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As part of the celebrations to mark the club's centenary season, Swansea City fans have been revealing their memories in a book.
The project has been organised by Swansea University and the Swans 100 team and has also involved the Swans Supporters' Trust, with funding from the Lottery.
All the memories are captured 'Swansea 'til I Die - A Century of Supporting the Swans'.
The project features three generations of the same family - Alan, Steve and Will Meredith - two of whom live in England but still come to Swansea's home games.
Dean Thomas went to meet them.
The earliest memory of a first game recorded by the team is from John Conibear, aged
– John Conibear
My first visits in 1924-5 were as a babe-in-arms. My first conscious memory of
the Vetch Field I have been able to establish as on Thursday 11 March 1926
I knew our side wore white - all except one who wore a red jersey.
Phil Bethell is a spokesman for the Swans 100 project.
– Phil Bethell
The project has brought together stories and memories from Swans' fans from 8 to 80 years old. It has been a pleasure to talk to people and read the stuff they have sent in.
It makes you realise how much passion there is for the football club, and how the supporters have kept it going through the dark days when things were definitely not Premier League.
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By Good News Network
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Civics and World -
The most popular course at Harvard this semester teaches the skill of positive thinking.
855 students signed up for a positive psychology course to learn how to create "a fulfilling and flourishing life."
Harvard is one of about a hundred campuses around the country offering courses that focus on what helps people to feel good. Positive Psychology is the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions.
Growing piles of scientific research
are promoted on the covers of magazines like Time, and leading to masters degree programs, like the one centered on the work of Dr. Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology.
The University of PA offers to professionals, many of whom are working full-time, the chance to earn a pioneering graduate degree from the Ivy League university, with the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP). International conferences on the topic are now numerous. The Fifth International Positive Psychology Summit will be held in Washington, DC on October 5- 7, 2006 and sponsored by The Gallup Organization with Toyota and Toyota University.
Read more about Harvard students and their class in the Boston Globe
, (If you don't want to register for reading page 2, read it here
) NPR did a story also
and includes its audio/ radio file.
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Yesterday, it was discovered that the developer beta of iTunes Match showed options for both streaming and downloading content from the cloud to a user’s device. Today, a new report from AllThingsD reveals that an Apple spokesperson claims that the service is not actually a streaming one.
While a video making the rounds today makes it seem as if Apple’s upcoming iTunes Match service will stream music from Apple’s servers to a user’s device, that’s not the case. An Apple spokesperson confirms that any music you want to access from your cloud-based lockerwill still need to be stored on your iPad, or iPhone, or whatever device you’re using to listen to the song.
The service appears to be streaming because begins playback instantly, but instead of true streaming it is downloading and storing the file while beginning simultaneous playback. It’s unknown whether the files are stored locally are of full quality or reduced bitrate. Apple has been “deliberately vague” about how the iTunes Match service works. ”Apple’s system, as it’s currently constructed, still requires users to keep stuff on their machine in order to play with it,” the report said. Kafka suggested that files that are not “downloaded” through iCloud but still played will sit in a “temporary cache” on the machine. However, according to MacRumors tracks appears to be downloaded to a local cache on the user’s device, allowing for fast access to any portion of the tracks.
Once the track has been fully played, it remains available in that cache and can be re-accessed without needing to re-stream, but it is not considered permanently downloaded and is not counted as being in the device’s music library.
According to the report, the lack of true steaming is not due to licensing hold-ups with record labels. The licenses were have said to been acquired in April.
The iTunes Match beta was made available to developers yesterday, and it allows users to “clone” their music library in the cloud by matching it with content available from iTunes. The service will cost $24.99 per year and is expected to launch this Fall.
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Facebook rules the social networking world with 1 billion users
Facebook on Thursday announced that it now has more than 1 billion monthly active users, more than any other social network in the world. The social network also said that more than 600 million users are now accessing Facebook from their mobile devices.
In comparison, Twitter’s latest official update pegs it at 140 million active users (some estimate there are some 500 million total users), while would-be Facebook rival Google+ has 100 million monthly active users and 400 million signups.
Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the milestone on his Facebook profile on Thursday morning, saying: “This morning, there are more than one billion people using Facebook actively each month. Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life. I am committed to working every day to make Facebook better for you, and hopefully together one day we will be able to connect the rest of the world too.”
In a fact sheet released to mark the occasion, Facebook detailed that it reached 1 billion monthly active users on September 14 at 12:45 p.m. PT. The top five countries where people connected from at the time the milestone was reached were Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States.
Facebook was launched in 2004, and by 2006, it had 23 million users. That number doubled by 2007, and again in 2008, when it reached 100 million users. By 2010, Facebook hit 500 million users, doubling that number two years later. Currently, Facebook says the average age of its users is around 22 years old, down from 26 in 2008.
Facebook says that more than 219 billion photos were uploaded on the social network, with some 140 billion friend connections. With people putting so much of their personal life on the social network, Facebook’s growth has not been without privacy blunders, and legislators in Europe are still investigating Facebook’s data mining techniques.
Facebook still has challenges ahead, though. Local social networks in China and Russia have a foothold on their market and Facebook has been slow to make forays in those countries. Then there is the financial aspect: Facebook had a shaky initial public offering earlier this year, and it is still looking at ways to make display advertisements for the mobile users who represent 60 percent of the social network’s monthly traffic.
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Praise be to Allaah.
It is permissible for one to buy an item for someone else in return for a specified payment or a percentage of its price, because that comes under the heading of acting as an agent in return for a fee, which is permissible.
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah: (13131): It is permissible for the middleman to accept a payment of a certain percentage of the price for which the product is sold in return for telling customers about it. The middleman may take his payment from the seller or the buyer according to the agreement, so long as there is no unfairness or harm. End quote.
If you had warned your companion about this helmet but he insisted on buying it and asked for more of it, then after that it turned out that it was not authentic, then you do not have to do anything and you are entitled to your payment or the percentage agreed upon, because you were not negligent in doing what was expected of you.
But if you donate or waive part of your profit to help him in his loss, that will be a kind of favour and kindness for which you will be rewarded.
And Allah knows best.
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Liechtenstein: Say Yes' to Same-Sex Partnerships
|Publisher||Human Rights Watch|
|Publication Date||25 May 2011|
|Cite as||Human Rights Watch, Liechtenstein: Say Yes' to Same-Sex Partnerships, 25 May 2011, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ddf6a9a2.html [accessed 23 May 2013]|
|Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.|
The people of Liechtenstein should not isolate their country from Western Europe or their LGBT citizens from the rest of society. The fundamental right not to be discriminated against should be observed in Liechtenstein, and same-sex partnerships should be recognized by law. The people of Liechtenstein should vote "yes" in the referendum.Boris Dittrich, LGBT rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch
(New York) - The people of Liechtenstein should vote "yes" in the June 2011 referendum on whether their parliament should proceed to legalize same-sex partnerships, Human Rights Watch said today."The parliament has already taken the right steps to ensure that everyone in Liechtenstein, regardless of sexual orientation, is entitled to the protection of the law," said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Now the citizens of Liechtenstein have an opportunity to endorse this move against discrimination."
If the majority of voters say "yes" in the referendum scheduled to take place on June 17 through 19, lesbian and gay couples will be entitled by law to most of the same rights as married heterosexual couples, except in a few areas, such as second-parent adoption, artificial insemination, and surrogacy. A "no" vote will leave same-sex partnerships outside of the protection of the law.
"A yes' vote not only recognizes the reality that there is absolutely no reason that lesbians and gay men should not be entitled to protection of the law for their intimate relationships, but is also consistent with European efforts to modernize family law," Dittrich said.A registered partnership bill was unanimously adopted by the Liechtenstein Parliament (Landtag) on March 16. The bill was due to become law on September 1. However, under Liechtenstein law a bill can be prevented from becoming law if the people block it through a referendum, which must be held within three months of the adoption of the bill. Such a referendum requires a petition signed by a minimum of 1,000 registered voters. On April 21 a group called "Vox Populi" presented 1,208 signatures to the government, effectively demanding a referendum. The government announced the referendum dates on April 26. The result will be binding.
Liechtenstein is a member of the Council of Europe (CoE). Seven out of its 47 member countries grant same-sex couples equal access to marriage - the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. Another 13 members have passed legislation permitting same-sex couples to register their relationships - Andorra, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. These include Liechtenstein's neighbors, Switzerland and Austria.As recently as November 2010, the European Court of Human Rights affirmed that the stable relationship of a cohabiting same-sex couple falls within the notion of "family life," as protected in article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The Court recognized that over the past decade, there has been a rapid evolution of social attitudes toward same-sex couples in many member countries, including affording them legal recognition.
Member states of the Council of Europe should not continue to leave the family lives of same-sex couples without legal protection, Human Rights Watch said. The Liechtenstein government's decision to recognize their rights to legal protection and to make legal provision for registered partnerships is in keeping with the country's human rights obligations.
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- 1. Use glue gun to attach framework of large shells over surfaceof foam cone. Place more shells near base and fewer near tip.
- 2. Continue gluing shells to cone until surface is covered. If desired, glue several smaller shells near tip, over existinglarger shells, to give abundant appearance.
If you enjoyed this project, look here for more inspiring ideas:
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Households headed by older American are getting richer, while those headed by younger adults are seeing their economic well-being erode.
According to analysis of government data by the Pew Research Center, households headed by adults aged 65 and older possessed 42 percent more median net worth (assets minus debt) in 2009 than their equivalents did in 1984. During this same period, the wealth of households headed by younger adults moved in the opposite direction. In 2009, households headed by adults younger than 35 had 68 percent less wealth than households of their same-aged counterparts had in 1984.
In dollar terms, the net wealth of older households was 47 times as much as the net wealth of younger households in 2009: $170,494 versus $3,662. In 1984, the gap was much less lopsided. Pew indicates it was a ten-to-one ratio.
Housing has been the main driver of these divergent wealth trends. Rising home equity has been the linchpin of the higher wealth of older households in 2009 compared with their counterparts in 1984. Declining home equity has been one factor in the lower wealth held by young households in 2009 compared with their counterparts in 1984.
Trends over the same period in other key measures of economic well-being—including annual income, poverty, homeownership, and home equity—all follow a similar pattern of older adult households making larger gains, compared with households headed by their same-aged counterparts in earlier decades, than younger adult households, according to the Pew Research analysis.
While the housing market collapse of 2006, the recession of 2007-09 and the ensuing unemployment/underemployment climb affected the age-based divergences of households, they are as much linked to long-term demographic and social changes, Pew contends. For the young, these changes include delayed entry into the labor market and delays in marriage—two markers of adulthood traditionally linked to income growth and wealth accumulation. Today’s young adults also start out in life more burdened by college loans than their same-aged peers were in past decades.
For older Americans, one key change over the past quarter century has been an increase in the share who are employed. The share of adults ages 65 and older who are employed reached an historic low of 10 percent in 1985 but has since risen to 16percent in 2010.
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Welcome To Pothole Heaven!
travelers on Michigan’s roads it should come as no surprise that our state, in
my opinion, has become The Pothole Capital of the Western Hemisphere! In addition to dodging orange construction
cones, deer, and the occasional jack-knifed eighteen wheeler, drivers in the
Mitten State have to somehow elude the thousands of potholes that dot the
roads. And if you doubt the severity of
the problem just ask the owners of the various tire shops, or the workers at
any of the shock or strut shops in the state.
Those businesses always realize an uptick in sales during this time of
the year as a result of the numerous potholes.
Motorists are replacing blown out tires and bent struts as they
encounter one of the many cement orifices!
said that Michigan has some of the most generous highway truck weight options
in the nation. Some conjecture that the
cause of the numerous potholes can be attributed to the heavy laden trucks
damaging the roads. Of course our Arctic
like winter weather also contributes to the problem. On the other hand, neighboring states also
with winter weather woes such as Ohio and Indiana and Illinois seem to have
better roads. Could it be that the road contractors in those states do a better
job of constructing and maintaining the roads?
time of the year and in early Spring motorists in Michigan also encounter the
many road commission trucks that spread tar into the potholes. Watching this event reminds me of an old
joke. Seems two guys were working along a
highway – one of the workers was digging a hole – his companion then came along
and filled the hole with dirt. After
about a half mile of this practice, a local farmer approached and asked for an
explanation. One of the men responded
that the guy who normally plants a tree in the holes was out for the day so
they carried on despite his absence!
this have to do with the pothole tar spreaders?
Many years ago when workers toiled on the roads and filled the holes
with tar someone would use a metal tapper and pound the tar into the
holes. These days the workers just
shovel the tar into the holes and depend on us driving our cars over the tar to
pat it down. Of course this results in
tar flying all over the place and becoming lodged in our wheel wells. Just like the absent tree planter, maybe the
tar tapper has been on leave! Is it too
much to ask that someone pounds down the tar! Again, just asking.
So over the
next couple of months as you travel the highways and byways in Michigan be
prepared to have your car jolted along with your teeth chattering as you hit
one of the potholes. If you survive
that, watch out for the orange traffic cones, an occasional deer, and a
jack-knifed eighteen wheeler. Aah, pure
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|
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Physician assistants fill a valuable role by delivering a broad range of medical services to diverse populations in both rural and urban areas.
A Growing Field
Physician assistants will be in great demand in coming years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field is expected to grow by 30% within the decade.
The M.S. in Physician Assistant program at Bethel is designed to meet that need by preparing skilled practitioners who are ready for the challenges and responsibilities of patient care in a number of settings.
Health Care Settings and Specialties
Physician assistants can be found serving in:
- Private clinics
- Public health care facilities
- Governmental service
- Medical missions
- And more
They work in all medical specialties, including:
- Family practice
- Internal medicine
- Women’s health
- Emergency medicine
- And more
As a certified physician assistant, a practicing PA must maintain certification through ongoing medical education (CME) activities. Every 2 years, physician assistants must log their CME hours from state and national meetings with NCCPA to obtain appropriate credits.
This info is designed to help you think about and explore possible career paths. It does not guarantee that these careers will be available once you earn this degree.
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http://gs.bethel.edu/academics/masters/physician-assistant/careers
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$20m to find 'next transistors'
SRC and NSF sling semiconductor research dollars
Research into the use of graphene in semiconductors is one of 12 projects to share $20m in funding from the National Science Foundation and Semiconductor Research Corporation.
The Nanoelectronics for 2020 and Beyond competition shared the grants around 24 participating universities, with the aim of developing a replacement for today’s transistor. According to the SRC media release, the idea is to get ahead of the game, by creating the next transistor before we run irrevocably into the physical limits of Moore’s Law.
In particular, the SRC notes that cutting the power of transistors is proving as difficult as shrinking their size. If you can’t reduce the power needed, shoving more transistors into a given space creates ultimately-unsolvable problems of heat density.
Some of the projects are pretty cool. The “graphene spin” computer, for example, looks at how to use the spin of electrons travelling through graphene, enabling chips that combine processing and permanent storage (University of California). Graphene is also the focus of a Cornell/Princeton collaboration looking into fabricating nanoribbons of the material.
El Reg is also interested in this idea: a group at Pittsburgh University is looking at creating re-writable electronic circuits. The materials lanthanum aluminate and strontium titanate form an interface that can be switched between an insulating and a conducting state, allowing circuits to be rewritten down to a few nanometers.
If you like your research a little farther out, there’s also work at the University Notre Dame to use “spatio-temporal wave extensions” as the basis for computation.
The rest of the funded projects are listed here . ®
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/22/src_nsf_research_grants/print.html
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Authors: Mohsin Khan and Shuja Nawaz, Atlantic Council
With a general parliamentary election likely to be held early in the year, and changes to the leadership of the army and judiciary due by the end of the year, Pakistan faces some daunting challenges as it enters 2013.
The new government will need to set the economy on track and attract sufficient external financing to avoid a potential balance-of-payments and currency crisis.
The political transition and the required economic reforms will not be easy tasks. They will be set against the backdrop of rising civil unrest inside the country; a continuing insurgency in the western provinces; the rise of radical Islamic fundamentalism; and a hard-to-disguise series of battles between the civil government and the military on the one hand, and the judiciary and both the government and the military on the other. The Supreme Court dismissed one prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, in 2012 and barely avoided sending home his successor, Raja Pervez Ashraf, on the basis of a long-awaited and contentious letter to Swiss authorities that would allow them to reopen bribery charges against President Asif Ali Zardari. Yet, for the vast majority of the population, the threat of crime, unemployment, terrorism, political corruption and drugs is of greater concern than the political machinations currently going on in Pakistan.
The economic picture in Pakistan has remained quite grim since 2008. A growth rate hovering around 3 per cent, inflation running in double digits, fiscal deficits averaging 6–7 per cent of GDP and growing external imbalances all point to a bleak situation. The past year has generally followed this pattern with severe energy shortages and financing constraints forcing the manufacturing sector to operate at only 50–60 per cent of capacity. These constraints, compounded by political uncertainties and a deteriorating security situation, have caused both domestic and foreign investment to fall significantly, creating a scenario of low growth in future years, when 7–8 per cent growth per year is needed to provide jobs for the steadily growing population.
In a period of economic distress, however, there are some bright spots that give a degree of optimism for 2013 and beyond. First, the steady rise in the size of the middle class and in consumer spending, particularly on durables such as automobiles, motorcycles and mobile phones, suggests that official GDP figures have not captured the full picture of a large and growing informal economy in Pakistan. Second, workers’ remittances from abroad, which in 2012 will amount to US$13–14 billion, have fuelled consumer spending at home and checked the widening of external imbalances. And third, the government’s bold step of opening up trade talks with India, when it announced that it will grant its neighbour most favoured nation status by the end of 2012, could well be a game changer for the future economic development of Pakistan.
So what lies ahead for 2013 on the economic front? Unfortunately, it seems the official economy will limp along unless there are significant increases in energy supplies and domestic security improves. With large repayments to the IMF due in 2013, as well as incipient capital flight, the new government will face pressures on its foreign exchange reserves. Without serious tax reforms, the fiscal deficit will stay high and continue to be financed by borrowing from the banking system — effectively by printing money and pushing up interest rates and inflation.
If the new government wants to change this downward trajectory, it will need to undertake comprehensive energy and tax reforms and obtain additional external financing, possibly through another IMF program, and bilateral assistance from donors and multilateral assistance from banks. The government has a well-thought-out growth strategy that tackles these issues. As yet, the plan exists only on paper. It remains an open question whether the new government will have the political mandate or the ability to implement these needed reforms, or whether it will just try to muddle through as it has for the past few years.
Set against this background, next year’s elections pose a difficult set of choices for the people of Pakistan. Do they bring back the same old parties and leaders as before? Or turn to new faces? Old-style feudal and tribal politics, laced with sectarian influences, will likely dominate. The potential for the incumbent Pakistan Peoples Party and its allies to return to power cannot be discounted under these circumstances, as the party uses the power of the purse to seal pre-election alliances. In that case, yet another coalition government might be in the offing and unable to take the firm steps that the teetering economy demands. Despite these difficulties, the informal economy will continue to expand and offer employment opportunities; trade with India will be a catalyst in lowering tensions in the region; and the prospect of a military intervention seems less likely than before, given the rise of countervailing sources of power: the parliament, judiciary, civil society and an active media. These may be the only silver linings in the cloudy political and economic horizon for Pakistan.
This is part of a special feature on 2012 in review and the year ahead.
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Nick Clegg's speech on the Arab Spring goes further than calling for a democratic outcome across the region. It makes achieving such an outcome a defining aim of UK foreign policy, building on Clegg's previous commitment to "the principle of liberal interventionism...the principle that we have a collective responsibility to support freedom and protect human rights around the world".
"This year has proved that so-called Western values, free speech, the rule of law, pluralism, are the aspirations of people everywhere," says Clegg, in a speech to the British Council on Monday 22 August. "The UK stands by all who strive for them." These words are especially striking given that, in a speech in March, the Deputy Prime Minister said: "Being adherents of the international rule of law does not mean being neutral about the kind of world we want to see and the kind of nations we want to deal with: open, free, democratic societies."
Clegg is here clearly leading the Liberal Democrats away from any notion that the UK could be "neutral" on the relative merits of democracy and other systems. He is saying that democracy works best and that the UK will take practical steps to foster its development across the Middle East and North Africa:
Successful revolutions may change the world overnight. But, in many ways, it's the morning after that the real work begins...(We) will support a range of political projects, from assisting fledgling movements as they turn into organised political parties, to setting up parliamentary procedures for new legislatures, putting in place processes to prevent corruption, staffing projects to engage women and other marginalised groups, giving technical assistance to help replace state media monopolies with a plural press and helping register huge numbers of people who have never voted before...We've committed resources to this - £110m over the next four years with £20m now set aside specifically for Libya...(Don't) ever underestimate this stage of reform. This is when you lock in a revolution. This is when you turn the hopes and dreams of millions of citizens into the institutions and practices of a well-functioning state.
In other words: revolutions that start with hopes of good governance and democracy often end with failed states and despotism. It is in the UK's interest to actively intervene so as to push post-revolutionary countries in the right direction - and we are quite clear what the right direction is, with no hint of moral relativism when it comes to different systems of government. If British people are entitled to democracy in our country, then other people are entitled to it in theirs, so it is right for us to help them to achieve it.
This speech takes the Liberal Democrats another step away from the politics of the Iraq War - which did, after all, happen as long ago as 2003. As I have argued here previously, Liberal Democrats' principled opposition to that war skewed the terms of debate about the party's foreign policy. The mood music of that debate temporarily became the drumbeat of Stop the War and Not in My Name, even though the party has consistently supported the war in Afghanistan and previously led calls for intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Led by Nick Clegg and facing the rigours and responsibilities of government, the Liberal Democrats are now taking a tougher, more nuanced approach to questions of liberal interventionism. As Clegg has previously argued, the war in Iraq was an act of "liberal vigilantism" that went badly wrong, "the lesson of (which) is not that intervention in support of liberal aims is always wrong". After all, Clegg now argues, "had Gaddafi been allowed to massacre protesters in Benghazi, what message would that have sent to protesters in Manama? Sanaa? Damascus?"
This is also a powerful response to those who ask why we have intervened militarily in Libya but not in Syria. Clegg demonstrates here that our prevention of a Libyan massacre in Benghazi was, in and of itself, an intervention in Syria, sending as it did a signal to Assad as to what he could expect were he to engage in wholesale massacres of Syria's people - massacres on a scale that would have dwarfed even the ugly, tragic killings that the Assad regime actually has undertaken.
The outcome in Libya remains deeply uncertain. As Clegg has argued, "we must temper optimism with realism" regarding events across the Middle East and North Africa. "Equally," says Clegg, "We must be wary of those who preach a counsel of despair." Liberal Democrats must surely agree with Clegg that "the momentum for change is breathtaking and, for the cynics who said change wasn't possible, who had written off the Libyan uprising, written off the Arab Spring, clearly, they were wrong. The movement for freedom hasn't been stamped out. It's alive and kicking, and it's here to stay."
Liberal Democrats must be natural members of any such "movement for freedom". They should back their leader in ensuring that "the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with the millions of citizens across the Arab world, who are looking to open up their societies, looking for a better life." This is another defining moment for Liberal Democrat foreign policy.
Follow Matthew Harris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MatthewFHarris
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Lochner v. New York
Bill Long 10/20/05
198 US 45, Decided April 17, 1905
This case, which still sends shivers up people's spines, was decided by a divided (5-4) US Supreme Court precisely 100 years ago. Like Holmes' The Common Law (1881), which everyone reveres but no one reads, so Lochner is generally not read anymore because it stands for the supposedly discredited notion of "substantive due process." The purpose of this essay is to get beyond labels and describe the case in its time, focusing on the facts and law, the decision of the majority and the major points of the two dissentings opinions.
Facts and Underlying Law
Plaintiff employer was charged with violating an 1897 NY statute which provided that no employee shall be "required or permitted" to work in a bakery more than 10 hours/day or 60 hours/week. He had hired bakers to work for longer shifts. Other sections of the statute required bakery employers to provide adequate drainage, plumbing, and ventilation of the facilities (sec. 111); adequte construction of facilities with cement and plaster (sec. 112); adequate washrooms and sleeping places (sec. 113); regular bakery inspection (sec. 114); and adequate notice by the factory inspector to the owner when alterations needed to be made (sec. 115). Thus, the statute is a prime example of "Progressive Era" protective legislation that began to be passed in the 1890s. The employer was convicted of violating the hours section of the statute (110) by employing people in his Utica bakery who worked more than the statutorily-permitted hours, and his conviction was upheld on appeal by divided votes. The case came to the Supreme Court from the highest NY court, the Court of Appeals.
Legal Discussion of the Court
The legal question in this case may be easily stated: did the New York Legislature exceed its police powers (as it was phrased at the time) in enacting this legislation and so conflict with the 14th Amendment liberty guarantee? Justice Peckham (re)states the issue immediately: "The mandate of the statute that 'no employee shall be required or permitted to work,' is the substantial equivalent of an enactment that 'no employee shall contract or agree to work...'" He goes on:
"The statute necessarily interferes with the right of contract between the employer and employes concerning the number of hours in which the latter may labor in the bakery of the employer. The general right to make a contract in relation to his business is part of the liberty of the individual protected by the 14th Amendment."
But the state also has its police powers, "the exact limitation of which have not been attempted by the courts," even though it is agreed that they "relate to the safety, health, morals and general welfare of the public." So, does this interest of the state in protecting the health of its citizens trump the rights of an owner freely to contract under the 14th Amendment?
Justice Peckham goes on to review the kinds of things that the state is able to do: protect the morals of its citizens, prohibit illegal contracts, etc., and then he reviews some of the Court's jurisprudence on the issue of the extent of these police powers. For example in Holden v. Hardy (169 US 366 (1898)), the Court upheld the power of the State of UT to limit underground mining hours to eight hours per day. In 1905 the Court upheld the ability of the State of MA to require vaccinations. But, he concluded, these cases do not shed light on the present situation.*
[*One might wonder why the Utah case is distinguishable, since it also had to do with regulating work in a dangerous environment.]
So, how is the Court to make a determination whether this statute exceeds the state's police powers? Peckham poses the question as follows: "Is this a fair, reasonable and appropriate exercise of the police power of the State, or it is an unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right of an individual to his person liberty?" By stating the issue so baldly, you recognize that the Court is flying without instruments and will decide the case "by its guts." He says, in what must be one of the most disingenous comments I have seen in a long time, "This is not a question of substituting the judgment of the court for that of the legislature. If the act be within the power of the State, it is valid..." You can see why Roscoe Pound and others would have gone ballistic when reading these sentences. And the next few.
"The question whether this act is valid as a labor law, pure and simple, may be dismissed in a few words. There is no reasonable grounds for interfering with the liberty of person or the right of free contract by determining the hours of labor in the occupation of a baker."
Why not? Because there is no contention that bakers aren't as smart as other workers. They are not "wards of the State." "We think that a law like the one before us involves neither the safety, the morals, nor the welfare of the public." And later, "We think that there can be no fair doubt that the trade of a baker, in and of itself is not an unhealthy one to that degree which would authorize the legislature to interfere with the right of labor..." On what basis did "we think" this to be the case? The Justice is silent on that one.
And then follows the parade of horribles. If we are to allow the state to limit the hours of bakers, what is next? Will it want to regulate hours of "printer, a tinsmith, a locksmith, a carpenter, a cabinetmaker, a dry good clerk, ...a clerk in almost any kind of business?" If the Court permitted New York to do this, "no trade, no occupation, no mode of earning one's living could escape this all-pervading power..." Horror upon horror.
But the Court couldn't close without putting in a dig against the progressive types who are trying to save the world: "It is impossible for us to shut our eyes to the fact that many of the laws of this character, while passed under what is claimed to be the police power for the purpose of protecting the public health or welfare, are, in realityh, passed from other motives." The Court declined, however, to identify these motives.
The tone of the majority's opinion is so self-righteous, so acid, that you can tell that hugely emotional issues are swirling right beneath the surface of the opinion. Times are changing and the Court will dig in its heels to prevent this from happening. And so the Court hands down this most activist decision. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes dissented on two grounds. First he said that the Court's decision imports a certain economic theory into the Constitution ("the Fourteenth Amendment does not enact Mr. Herbert Spencer's Social Statics"). Second, he would defer to the legislature of a state.
"I think that the word liberty in the Fourteenth Amendment is perverted when it is held to prevent the natural outcome of a dominant opinion, unless it can be said that a rational and fair man necessarily would admit that the statute proposed would infringe fundamental principles as they have been understood by the traditions of our people and our law."
See what Holmes is doing? He is articulating an early version of the "rational basis" test when it comes to the constitutionality of state statutes.
I will mention the other dissent, by Harlan, White and Day, more quickly. They go through the precedents of the Court in great detail to show that the New York law wasn't beyond the police power of a state. But they close with an interesting comment regarding the unhealthy nature of the baker's job. Quoting a Professor Hirt, they say:
"The labor of the bakers is among the hardest and most laborious imaginable, because it has to be performed under conditions injurious to the health of those engaged in it. It is hard, very hard work, not only because it requires a great deal of physical exertion in an overheated workshop and during unreasonably long hours, but more so because of the erratic demands of the public, compelling the baker to perform the greater part of his work at night, thus depriving him of an opportunity to enjoy the necessary rest and sleep, a fact which is highly injurious to his health."
What is not said in the opinion, however, is whether this information quoted by Justice Harlan was part of the "record" of the case and, if it was, to what extent it was recognized by the Court. One of the next big social welfare cases the Court faced, in 1908, would not let the Court ignore the social implications of laws. How did the Court have to face it? Through the Brandeis brief....
Copyright © 2004-2008 William R. Long
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Began His Sermon...
- Monday, July 19, 2004
One Sunday a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he wanted him to go ahead and preach.
The cowboy said, "I'm not too smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd feed him."
So the minister began his sermon.
One hour passed, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours. The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the cowboy how he had liked the sermon.
The cowboy answered slowly, "Well, I'm not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I sure wouldn't feed him ALL the hay."
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I remember my sweet four year old son was so shocked when he first learned about the existence of guns that he spent months exploring why guns existed, wondering why the government didn’t do anything to get rid of guns, and talking about collecting all the guns in the world and melting them down to recycle them. I would listen to his concerns as best I could and reassure him that there were lots of people around the world working peacefully to resolve conflict without guns and many more who were working towards ways to increase stricter controls of guns. However, the shock that we humans have developed these weapons that can harm and kill people so quickly had hit hard upon him. Unfortunately, at that point, I hadn’t developed the art of Playlistening, which could have helped him loosen some of that fear.
Over time and exposure to more social interactions with other children, this play changed, and by the age of seven he had a keen interest in gun play. I found this really distressing at first, and as this play started coming up more, I noticed my reaction, which was “what has happened to my sweet innocent boy.” My thinking was that there was no way I wanted my son playing with guns. However, I also realized that he was playing this out for a reason, and that totally banning it wasn’t going to be the best way to help him with it. How was I going to figure this out?
Thankfully, by this stage I had become more versed in the Parenting by Connection approach and I realized, that if I was going to help him with the hurt and isolation that was sitting under this play, I was going to need to do some emotional work on my end. So I spent some good chunks of time in my Listening Partnership working on how much I disliked guns, how much I hated the idea of playing with guns, and my disappointment that my innocent little boy had now become interested in gun play. Once I had released some of those feelings, I began to become much less reactive and much more flexible in my thinking, so that I could spontaneously join him in this play when it arose.
Around this time, he went through a period of making guns out of connecting coloured textas (that’s what we call markers in Australia). He would take the lids off some of the textas and connect them all together so they were long and had triggers (they were truly beautiful creations). One particular day, when we were doing some Special Time, he decided to use his creations in our play, and for the first time, he wanted me to shoot him. Before the emotional work I’d done for myself, there was no way I would have even considered the idea, let alone thought creatively about how I could shoot him playfully. However, my mind was working well this day. As I started moving towards him, I realised the gun was very wobbly, so I started wobbling my gun towards him and he starting laughing a little. That little bit of laughter was an opportunity for me to bring some Playlistening into Special Time. So I took the opportunity to follow his lead and do it some more.
I had the wobbliest gun in the world, a very silly and bumbling weapon, with just the right ingredients that he needed to get to some deep laughter, which helped him release some fear around this issue. I’d start heading towards him, quite slowly and intentionally, but with a very playful seriousness about it, but then, after a couple of seconds, my gun would get all wobbly and it would either fall right off, or droop down from the end. Sometimes it would even flick off near him because it was wobbling so much. He was laughing so hard and he had so much fun with it that he kept initiating the game over the next few weeks.
After playing, we were in such a warmly connected place that the rest of the day flowed like a dream. We had a strong sense of being felt by each other and an easy willingness to cooperate and work together towards what worked best for everyone. It really reminded me about the power of laughter to deeply connect us.
Megan Edwards is an Australian Hand in Hand Instructor. You can join her in her upcoming online Building Emotional class beginning April 25th.
Megan says, “The class provides parents with the opportunity to get the level of support required for the emotional work of parenting which all parents deserve. The Hand in Hand approach of Parenting by Connection really changes lives in the most wonderful and deeply rewarding ways.”
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Popular music is the soundtrack to much of our history. When Revolutionary War soldiers went off to war, they did so to the tune of “Yankee Doodle.” Abolitionist songs, sung by groups like the Hutchinson Family Singers, brought the anti-slavery message to hundreds if not thousands. As Americans faced each other in battle, the army in blue took heart from the strains of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” while soldiers in grey rallied to “Dixie.” Nineteenth-century men courted their sweethearts to the tunes of Stephen A. Foster, while slaves in the cotton fields found solace in spirituals. Union organizers led working-class men and women in choruses of “Union Maid,” Doughboys went off to war humming “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” and Depression-era optimists as well as cynics could be heard to sing “Happy Days Are Here Again.” In every era, music has reflected—and shaped—social and cultural change, political choices, and mass protest and support for government policies. Each of us knows that a familiar song from the past can produce a vivid memory of an event, a person, or a movement we were once a part of. Popular music is thus a vital primary source in the classroom, able to evoke a bygone era or provide a starting point for us to present the historical context in which events occurred.
In this issue of History Now, leading scholars of history and music take us through our recent past, moving through the decades from the 1940s to the present day. Each essay analyzes the relationship of a musical genre to a key historical event or movement. We realize that the themes chosen do not exhaust the complex history of modern America; for example, because we have already examined the music of the Civil Rights Movement in an earlier issue, the songs that rallied thousands to demand equal rights for African Americans are absent. We hope you will think of these essays, therefore, as examples, as templates for how historians and history teachers can use music effectively as a window onto our past.
Elihu Rose has chosen to examine the songs that accompanied World War II. In the music itself, we can see the shift from isolationism to participation in a great struggle against Nazism and fascism and we can follow the upsurge of patriotic songs as Americans were asked to make sacrifices to ensure victory. We can also see, as Rose notes, the many emotions that war aroused—“hope, longing, loneliness, and love”—and the variety of ways in which Americans at the front and at home coped with anxiety and danger, from bravado, to religious affirmation, to satire and humor. The very diversity of the music drives home the complexity of a nation at war.
Glenn Altschuler and Rob Summers carry us into the era of rock and roll in their essay on the 1950s. In that decade, African American music and its rhythms seemed to cross a great divide and enter the world of white American teenagers. Parents fretted; critics condemned; but middle-class teenagers purchased the 45 and 78 records of Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, and the white singers like Elvis Presley who became idols overnight. Altschuler and Summers raise important and provocative questions: was this music “revolutionary”? Did it produce or did it simply accompany the rise of teenage rebellion? Was this a precursor to the rebellion of the 60s generation? Whatever the answers to these questions, a new genre of music had entered American culture.
Much of the most intense music of modern times has been spurred by opposition to government programs and policies. Kerry Candaele, himself a songwriter, looks at the singers and the songs of the anti-war movement during the 1960s and 1970s. While songs supporting the American policy in Vietnam also filled the airwaves, especially of country music stations, many of the most emblematic songs of this era came from those who opposed the war. They are often angry songs—and emotionally urgent songs, but some are humorous and many are ironic. They were never the dominant music of American youth, for they existed side by side with a music that ignored social and political issues and focused on teenage love and heartbreak. While many saw Bob Dylan or Country Joe or Jimi Hendrix as radicals and even traitors, it is clear that these critics of American foreign policy saw themselves as patriots, urging the country to pursue peace instead of war, to renounce what they saw as imperialism, and to acknowledge the rights of American citizens to free speech, even if it was critical of the government. Candaele does not romanticize the musicians who created this protest music, nor does he make grand claims for its impact on our society. Instead, as he says in his closing paragraph, he sees the value of protest music as a spur to civic engagement: “What anti-war music could and did do,” he writes, “as all protest music has done throughout American history, was to raise the spirits while doing battle, help define identities of activists, and turn passive consumption into an active, vibrant, and sometimes liberating culture.”
Sometimes, as Elizabeth Wollman shows us in her essay on the women’s movement and its music, it is the emergence of the musicians themselves rather than the “message” of their songs that signals a shift in cultural norms or social values. The 1970s saw the emergence of what scholars call “second wave feminism,” a continuation, that is, of the struggle for gender equality, begun at Seneca Falls in 1848, that climaxed with the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the vote. In the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, social and political activists organized to press for gender equality as well as racial equality, calling for equal pay for women and equal access to education and participation in sports, as well as the creation of new gender ideals and roles for both sexes. Women songwriters and singers did not necessarily address these issues directly in their lyrics; instead, they demanded a more prominent place for themselves in the music business. They wanted their voices heard; they wanted recognition from their profession; and they wanted their talent to be recognized. There were, of course, feminist anthems, most notably “I Am Woman” and “Respect.” But what Wollman stresses is the importance of the emergence of women’s voices coming over the airwaves, woman guitarists displaying their talents, and women’s challenge to the identification of hard rock as a masculine domain. As women moved into law offices and legislatures, university professorships and Wall Street business firms, a parallel development could be found in popular music, as woman musicians moved into hard rock, punk, disco—and were heard.
By the 1980s, the anti-war movement was already “history.” But, as Douglas Egerton and Leigh Fought show us, musicians of this era became interpreters of a newer protest movement, one that was as global in its scope as it was national. Many, like Jackson Browne, urged Americans not to allow their country to “drift into war” again as it seemed to have done in the Vietnam conflict. But Browne and his contemporaries also had broad, social concerns that reached beyond the American borders. They urged their fellow citizens to extend their democratic vision and to support equality around the world, not simply at home. The disagreement within this song writing community over strategy and tactics mirrored the disagreement within the larger movement for global social justice. For example, some musicians urged a boycott of performances in South Africa as a protest against apartheid. Others believed the best approach was to perform in South Africa but demand that the audience—and perhaps the participating musicians in a concert or recording—be biracial. Although their strategies differed, both groups expressed the growing awareness that America was part of a global community.
In the 1950s and 1960s, African American music began to “crossover” into the white listening-public’s musical venues. White singers “covered” black songs, often, as in the case of Elvis Presley, changing the lyrics to make them more acceptable to the teenagers and their parents who were his targeted audience. In essence, black music sought respectability within the dominant culture. But, as Mark Anthony Neal shows us in his essay, hip-hop and rap—the new genres of the 1990s—made few concessions to the sensibilities of the white middle classes. This music embodied the despair, anger, and disappointment of young African and Latino Americans; but it also reflected their refusal to abandon their cultural and musical roots. Neal notes the cultural radicalism of the music, for it turned the “crossover” process on its head. Hip-hop did not compromise, or “soften” itself in hopes of being accepted by mainstream listeners; instead, mainstream audiences “crossed over” to an undistilled black urban music. Neal’s discussion of hip-hop and rap also raises the critical question of authenticity. Musicians of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s had often struggled with the contradictions between commercial success and musical authenticity, and hip-hop and rap do not escape that same contradiction. Protest music can be used by retail chains as easily, it would appear, as it can be used to raise awareness of social and economic problems.
Finally, Craig Werner brings us to the twenty-first century and its most traumatic event for Americans: the destruction of the twin towers. Out of this tragedy came not only a traditional war—in Iraq—but a new type of global war—the war on terrorism. But the events of 9/11 also produced the need for Americans to express their grief, their anxiety, and their determination to recover from the blows dealt them on a sunny fall day in 2011. More than any other popular musician, Bruce Springsteen captured these emotions in his album The Rising, and its anthem, “My City in Ruins.” Werner takes us through the music of The Rising, analyzing both the lyrics and Springsteen’s own concerns to distinguish himself from the persona he adopts in the music. But it also makes an equally important point: the artist cannot control the interpretation that the listener—or the viewer or the reader—gives to the work the artist has created. And as every historian and history teacher knows, each generation imposes its own interpretation on historical events and on the art that is generated.
A few final words. First, this issue of History Now has been the most collaborative effort in the journal’s history; the entire staff of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History contributed ideas and recommendations for songs and musical artists. They also did Herculean work researching the subjects and locating the historians to write these essays. My thanks to them for this hard work. Secondly, the choice of topics for these essays are illustrative not inclusive. We encourage you to select your own genres, your own list of songs and artists, and those events or movements you believe are critical to understanding and appreciating the American past. And finally, we recognize that some of the lyrics as well as some of the views of the musicians who appear in these pages are controversial. We are confident that you will use your own excellent judgment in how you present this material to your students.
As a special feature in this issue, we include an interview with Mark Dolan on Springsteen. And, as always, there are lesson plans to accompany the essays.
Here’s wishing you all a wonderful summer!
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It takes a certain kind of mind to get excited about the origins and development of the telephone keypad. A mind like that of Petroski, the Duke engineering prof who brings his sizable wit and imagination to bear on the everyday items rendered invisible by their own ubiquity. Indeed, Petroski finds something significant in their insignificance. In a flat-bottomed grocery bag, he discovers an evolutionary history with its share of remarkable inventors and innovations. Tackling everything from supermarket layout to car cup-holders to even, yes, the kitchen sink, Petroski fashions a lucid and lively account of product engineering and design Darwinism as exciting as a brown paper bag.
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Wales, YorkshireEdit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
WALES (St. John), a parish, in the union of Worksop, S. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, 10 miles (E. by S.)from Sheffield; containing 351 inhabitants.
Wales St John the Baptist is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the Rotherham district of South Yorkshire, created in 1723 from chapelry in Laughton en le Morthen, Yorkshire Ancient Parish.Other places in the parish include: Norwood and Bedgralve, Kiveton Park, Kiveton, and Waleswood.
The Parish church of St John the Baptist has been designated a grade II* listed building British listed building
For history of civil registration in this area see Worksop Registration District
Census records from 1841-1891 are available on film through a Family History Center or at the Family History Library. The first film number is 464283. To view these census images online, they are available through the following websites for a fee ($) or free:
- FamilySearch has some of the British Censuses available.
- FindMyPast ($) has all available census records including images, and is free at Family History Centers and the Family History Library and some public and academic libraries.
- Ancestry.co.uk ($) has now all available census records but free at Family History Centers and the Family History Library and at numerous public and academic libraries. The library versions are known as AncestryInstitution.com.
- The Genealogist.co.uk ($) has all available censuses and is free at Family History Centers and the Family History Library and various other libraries.
- FreeCen is a UK census searches. It is not complete and individuals are always asked to consider helping out with transcriptions.
See Yorkshire Census
This ancient parish (AP) was created before 1813. Church of England records began in 1579.
Link to the Family History Library Catalogue and the films in their collection. Wales
Poor Law Unions
Genealogy and History Websites
- This page was last modified on 6 March 2013, at 00:55.
- This page has been accessed 454 times.
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Google Inc found itself at the center of multiple government investigations on Thursday into whether it is using its dominance in search advertising to scotch competition.
At least three state attorneys general have started antitrust investigations into Google, a source familiar with the matter said.
The source declined to elaborate on the details of the investigations by the attorneys general of California, Ohio and New York as they were still in the early stages.
The attorneys general investigation into Google was first reported by the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the investigations.
The news of the attorneys general investigation emerged on the same day the Wall Street Journal reported that the internet search giant is about to receive the civil equivalent of a subpoena from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as part of a probe into the company’s Internet search business.
The company, which dominates U.S. and global markets for search advertising, has been accused by competitors of favoring its own services over rivals in its search results.
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Stand Up That Mountain The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness Along the Appalachian Trail (Hardcover)
|Author: Jay Erskine Leutze|
|The true story of an outdoorsman living alone in Western North Carolina who teams up with his neighbors and environmental lawyers to save a treasured mountain peak from the mining company.|
From the Publisher:
In the tradition of A Civil Action?the true story of an outdoorsman living alone in Western North Carolina who teams up with his neighbors and environmental lawyers to save a treasured mountain peak from the mining company.One day Jay Leutze got a call from a young woman, Ashley, and her Aunt Ollie. Ashley and Ollie said they had evidence that Clark Stone Company was violating the Mining Act of 1971 up on Belview Mountain, one of the most remote and wildest places in the eastern United States. They wanted Jay, a non-practicing attorney, to sue the company to put a stop to their mining operation. He jumped at the challenge.
Upon meeting Ashley and Ollie, Leutze knew he was embarking on a course that would change his life. Fourteen-year-old Ashley assured him she had accumulated a stack of evidence ?as big as that mountain,? detailing the mine owner's misdeeds. Leutze quickly became convinced that this was a case he could win. He formed a plaintiff group and sued the state of North Carolina for violations of its own mining laws. He and Ashley's family were eventually joined by several national conservation groups seeking to save Belview Mountain and protect the Appalachian Trail in one of its most scenic and fragile stretches.
This is a great underdog David vs. Goliath story with lots of good guys you love, and bad guys you love to hate. Not only did the case against the Clark Stone Company set groundbreaking legal precedent, the good guys won a complete victory. How they did it is a as compelling a story as the best literary fiction.
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Home > Miscellaneous Squash Products > Squash DVDs and Books
Home > Junior Squash 10 and Over
Beginning Squash DVD with Roy Ollier
Quantity in Basket: None
Price: $26.95 Reg:
Beginning Squash DVD with Roy Ollier Details
Description of the DVD
Learn to play the exciting game of Squash with expert instruction from top professional player Roy Ollier. This comprehensive DVD covers everything you need to know to play the game and improve your skills. Among the topics covered are: rules and scoring, equipment, warm ups, basic techniques, serves and returns, practice routines, simulated games, game strategy and more. This DVD is a great resource for new players and has more than enough detail to be beneficial for experienced players or coaches. 40 minutes. 2010.
About the Coach: Roy Ollier has been a squash professional for over 35 years. During that time he has won over 100 tournaments, including the Australian, U.S and Canadian Masters Championships. He has also played against seven World Champions. As a coach, Roy has taught the game to players at every level, from beginners to some of the World's best players and National Teams.
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CLEVELAND (AP) -- The city of Cleveland is losing population, and as a result its city council is going to shrink.
The Plain Dealer newspaper reported Monday that the 19-member city council will lose two more seats in 2013 when the panel redraws the wards.
Since council maps were last drawn in 2009, Cleveland's population has shrunk by more than 30,000 people to about 396,000, according to U.S. census figures. Most of that population loss occurred in the city's northeast quadrant.
But council members say that the east side, home to several of the city's predominantly black neighborhoods, will lose only one ward in the redistricting. That will preserve council representation for the black community.
The council, which redraws the lines every decade following the census, must do so by April 1 or cede the authority to Mayor Frank Jackson, who served on the council before his election as mayor.
Cleveland had 33 council members until 1981, when the charter was amended by a popular vote, shrinking the council to 21 wards, each with roughly equal population.
In 2008, voters approved another charter change requiring that the number of council seats correlate to population. Ward boundaries were redrawn the following year.
Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com
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On Thursday a Kiswahili daily published a photograph showing, among other passengers, US Ambassador to Tanzania, Alfonso E. Lenhardt, who had been stuck in an elevator at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals for 20 minutes. Pole sana, Ambassador.
According to press reports, Ambassador Lenhardt (a retired Major General in the US Army) was going to the ministry to meet with the newly appointed minister for Energy and Minerals, renowned and acclaimed international scholar in geological sciences, Prof. Sospeter Muhongo.
The Kiswahili paper, whose reporter witnessed the envoy’s ordeal, reported that following a successful rescue mission from the trapped elevator, the minister finally met with his visitor and apologized for the mishap. However, the press report charged that the minister also pointed out – in a light touch though – that what the ambassador had encountered in the lift was simply a stark reminder of the severity of energy problems in Tanzania.
Ironically, while the US ambassador was getting stuck in our local elevator, President Jakaya Kikwete was probably flying smoothly to the United States of America to join ‘privileged’ three other African heads of state invited by President Barack Obama to attend the G8 Summit at Camp David over the weekend. The topic? Food security in Africa!
Sadly, while we, as a country, had failed to assure the ambassador of the world’s super power a smooth and secure ride to just about five levels of a building, the US has in the last six decades been working hard to ensure a smooth and secure ride of man (and woman) to the moon, outer space and other unthinkable places.
Yet what General Lenhardt encountered in this country on Wednesday is just a tip of the iceberg. There are many buildings in this part of the world with elevators that function by the grace of God. Before passengers embark on an upward or downward flight using an elevator in most buildings they have to say their prayers first.
The last time I checked, a politician who later became a Member of Parliament for a constituency in Kigoma, David Kafulila, survived a ten-storey plunge into a black hole of an elevator that had miraculously vanished. Kafulila lived to tell his story which, unfortunately in this part of the world, gets forgotten within 24 hours - hence promoting conditions for the recurrence of the same tragedies.
In fact, a clearly thought-out advice to Ambassador Lenhardt and others who would care to listen is that next time they have a choice between an elevator and a stairway they should choose the latter. The reporter who witnessed the elevator incident on Wednesday wrote that after the rescue the ambassador and the other passengers preferred to walk up the stairs.
And this brings this column to some soul-searching questions. The visit of the ambassador to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals was, reportedly, meant to provide an opportunity for some rapport between the envoy and the new minister. It was further reported that even in the discussions between the two parties emphasis was on future cooperation in addressing chronic energy problems.
It is not a secret that the US has been one of the leading donors to Tanzania and its bilateral aid has increased considerably in recent years. It is reported that this year alone President Obama has requested even more aid for Tanzania than the country has received in the past.
Yet there appears to be a problem with aid in general, not only from Dambisa Moyo’s perspective – that aid doesn’t work - but also from Albert Einstein’s perspective that ‘doing the same thing, the same way, over and over again and expecting different results, is insanity’.
To use the elevator metaphor; when the US ambassador and the other passengers got rescued from a trapped lift, they tried an alternative: they walked up the stairs. That, to me, appears to be common sense. Going back into the same elevator could not have made sense for passengers who had been stuck there for 20 minutes.
Again, although Ambassador Leinhardt and his fellow passengers were stuck in the fateful lift for only 20 minutes, Tanzania – and its fellow passengers on the continent – have been stuck in the elevator of underdevelopment and aid dependency for over 20 decades. It is only natural, logical and intelligent for this country, and fellow passengers in the trapped elevator of underdevelopment, to try an alternative way up.
It is the hope of every patriotic citizen that the new strategy for addressing the energy crisis in Tanzania, which Ambassador Leinhardt presented to Professor Muhongo on Wednesday, is an alternative stairway to conditions which continue to hold this country, and its fellow passengers, in a trapped elevator forever.
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The chatroom dating service Plentyoffish.com holds the title of most lucrative click-through advertising site. Google had to write its operator a check for $901,000 — two months worth of payment — after Google’s electronic funds transfer bounced, according to a blog run by Plentoffish.com’s founder, Marcus Frind.
Frind’s tale has inspired legions of hopeful Web site operators, including the students taking Michael Rose’s Web development class at Gila Community College.
“We all want to get money from our Web sites, right?” Rose asked his acolytes one recent morning, before sharing the tale.
The program, called Adsense, allows Web site designers to place Google-hosted click – through advertisements on their pages. Revenue accumulates per click.
Perhaps the thought of making mega bucks will propel these students, many of them Payson High School students, through the intricate world of Web development.
Rose says those successful in the field are typically patient and persistent.
“There probably is a personality type,” he said.
“It’s those people who are able to sit with their discomfort of not knowing and trust in their ability to find out eventually.”
Sit through the discomfort, and one can develop a hugely marketable skill that provides a nice living.
GCC’s new Web development certificate allows any member of the community to earn a certificate of proficiency in two years. High school students can take the program and receive college credit. In concert with Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology, the students receive free tuition as long as they complete the program.
“It’s a free lunch, essentially,” said Rose.
Other students can take the program, although traditional tuition fees apply. This is the program’s first year.
“We’re targeting somebody who wants to make a living as a Web developer,” said Rose. This skill differs from Web design, in which people learn how to create appealing Web sites. Web developers, on the other hand, learn how to create the technology that drives sites.
Rose said the idea for this program stems from his desire to help the community, and to teach kids who want to stay in Payson a marketable skill.
“I think we need some sort of economic base rather than retail and service,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of bright kids with no outlet for their brightness.”
Rose, who already taught at the college, spoke with Dean Pamela Butterfield, who Rose said had already contemplated a similar program.
Rose spent the next 18 months writing the curriculum and gaining necessary state and educational approvals.
“The program was designed specifically for NAVIT, but everyone can take it,” said Rose.
At first students learn the science of programming. “Beyond that, it’s the elegance of creating solutions that are understandable,” he said. “The only rule in programming is — if it works, it’s right.”
Students graduate the program with the skills necessary to work in the business.
Rose also hopes that he can help attract business to Payson by training a skilled work force.
“A lot of people talk about how to attract industry to Payson,” he said. “You have to have the workforce in place before businesses move here.”
Rose is also working with local businesses to develop their Web presence. Some local businesses don’t even have Web sites.
“Many of them say, ‘Why do I need a Web site?’ It’s the most cost effective form of advertising in the modern era.”
He added, “If you’re not competing in that advertising medium, then you’re losing business and you don’t even know it.”
“I think I can make technology accessible and I think I can make it fun,” Rose said. “It’s not just a bunch of nerds with pocket protectors.”
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11-Dec-2011 -- When I started logging confluence visits, I had assumed that 10 years later, my most frequently visited point would be the point nearest where I live. Not so. The most frequently visited point of mine is 34 North 117 West in southern California. I travel here frequently for work and today was as fine a day near the winter solstice as any--perfect for visiting the point before I needed to get some work done. However, this time I was keen on doing what I had never done before--approach the point from the east, instead of from the northwest as I typically do.
And therefore, after landing at the Palm Springs airport, arriving in the area for a series of GIS education meetings, I discovered that the day was absolutely magnificent. This was the type of day that must remind people why they moved to southern California, particularly while watching relatives and friends chipping ice from their car windows in other parts of the country. After finding a huge bottle of water at the Palm Springs Albertsons for one dollar, I drove west on Interstate Highway 10 to Beaumont, and exited the highway. As I drove north, I silently thanked the early settlers, who had planted a series of regularly spaced magnificent spruce trees along both sides of the road. They stretched on for miles along Beaumont Avenue and Oak Glen Road. I was enjoying myself so much that I missed the turn to the west, along Wildwood Canyon Road, and had to double back. As I did so, the ridge I aimed for was straight ahead. It looked quite large and I wondered if I could make it to the top. I drove into the housing subdivision along Morningside Drive, and was happy to find that two teenagers waved at me: Refreshing in this day and age when so many seem so suspicious of everyone else. I drove south on Mustard Seed and Meadow View, and left on the short and steep Toucan Court. The folks who lived here had a wonderful open space set of trails right outside their doors. Surprised to find no other hikers' vehicles parked here, I stopped on a steep part of the street, forgetting to turn my wheels into the curb. I thought about that while on my hike, hoping the vehicle had not rolled and that the parking brake would be sufficient. Gathering supplies, I set out.
Immediately upon hiking up the narrow road that led to the water tank, the road was incredibly steep, as I knew it would be. I thought for the first 15 minutes of the hike that I would just do a reconnaissance from the ridgetop without actually visiting the point today; I was not sure if I could make it. But, I kept plodding along and eventually thought I would actually give it my all. I exited the road before the water tank up the trail, which was in decent condition, though at times it was so steep that I had to gingerly step to avoid backsliding on the loose debris. The day was magnificent, over 60 degrees F, and I was soon wearing only a long sleeved shirt on top. I should have brought a hat, though. My backpack weighed me down heavily with the large water bottle, but I was glad to have it; and I even remembered my sunblock. I carried a Garmin GPS and my iPhone, on which I was making my first-ever test of the Motion X GPS application. Up to the top of the ridge I hiked, with the application reminding me of my progress every five minutes.
Once on the top of the ridge, things became a bit easier, although the ridge itself had some very steep saddles. The best parts were the magnificent views in all directions and the fact that not a soul was hiking but me. Incredible, given the millions of people who lived in this area of southern California. I passed a trail to the west and later thought I should have taken it, because I ended up taking a steeper though shorter trail to the west instead. Even this was not the trail I should have taken, in retrospect, as we shall see later. Once committed, though, I gingerly picked my way down this spine of the ridge to the flatter part just south of the confluence. Fortunately, it was not muddy. I then paused for the first time before striking off down the slope without the benefit of the trail.
Here, things could become quite difficult, as I discovered earlier this year after impaling my palm on one of the thorny bushes here in the chaparral. I was fortunate that the ravine I followed down largely was covered by soft grasses and loose dirt, but was surprised to find, once reaching the bottom of the ravine, that nothing looked familiar, and I was still 200 meters from the confluence. I hiked up a ridge and into the next ravine, and still nothing looked familiar. Once more, up and down, and this time I recognized the familiar scene. As I had done several times before, I stepped gingerly around the steep terrain where the confluence lay, well inside the 100 meter buffer but as in the past, finding the zero-zero elusive given the bottom-of-ravine situation of the confluence and the lack of satellites. I took photographs of both devices I brought with me and a video. I was about 1 hour and 15 minutes into my hike, so about the same amount of time as my treks from the west had been, perhaps even a bit shorter.
I saw no animals or people. After about 10 minutes at the scene, I decided on a different way out. I love circular hikes to see new things. Plus, I wanted to maximize the trail time and minimize bushwhacking. I climbed the ridge to the south and took that trail to the east, to the top of the ridge. This proved difficult but was preferable to the thorny off-trail hiking. Once there, I found a stick with survey tape waving in the wind, and took note of the ridgetop house to the north. Amazing that they could construct it up here. I hoped the rest of the ridge would always remain house-free and in open space. I hiked south-southeast along the ridge, arriving at the place where I had left the ridge a short time before. Two crows followed me and I truly enjoyed my hike. In fact, this was my favorite confluence trek of 2011, along with 43 North 94 West near a beautiful lake and county park in Minnesota a few months before.
Despite a slow decent back to the vehicle, I arrived there with a total hike time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Later that day, I uploaded my Motion X GPS track to ArcGIS Online: The resulting map from my track is on ArcGIS Online, which clearly shows the to and from route, and a few photos linked to waypoints. I want to return from the ridge one more time, because I believe that if I try a different trail to the north, and use the trail north of the confluence both ways, I can reduce the hike time and still experience the magnificent ridge. I left the area by driving through Wildwood Canyon through Yucaipa and on to Redlands. A short but very exhiliarating hike and beautiful day! Get out there and explore the Earth.
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Roxbury turning back clock for turn of the century event
Air-conditioned museums may be interesting for an hour or two, but to really get a feel for times gone by, it’s much more fun to try your hand at some of the skills and crafts that your great-great-grandparents would have used every day.
Come to Roxbury during Turn of the Century Days over Labor Day weekend and you can learn how to spin wool into yarn, weave at a hand loom, cane a chair, weave an Adirondack-style “pack” basket, and hew wood beams. During Saturday’s house tours, you can step inside a 19th-century home where the layout and furnishings still reflect the culture and habits of 100 years ago.
Workshops that weekend include chair caning and rushing and basket-weaving by Martha Bremer, a master weaver from Otego’s Briar Creek Basketry. A teacher whose work has been exhibited throughout New York, Bremer’s specialty is restoring furniture, especially cane, rush, wicker and splint work to repair chair seating.
Can you tell your sheep wool from alpaca? How about rabbit “wool?” Local weaver and “spinstress” Tabitha Gilmore-Barnes will be weaving away both days that weekend, with her brilliantly colored collection of natural wools and yarns and selection of woven goods, everything from placemats and runners to cat toys and wearables. Tabitha will be in the Children’s Tent in Kirkside Park, with fun and fuzzy hands-on demonstrations and actual looms for the children to ply on both Saturday and Sunday.
Local woodworker Wayne Ford will also be in the park with some “hewing” friends, demonstrating the old-style planes and woodworking tools once so essential to building and furniture-making.
Other local crafts and homemade provisioners, like Deb Bauer of Locust Grove Soaps, will be happy to talk about the basic techniques behind their hand-crafted goods. (Well, some Rotary ladies may not be wild about sharing their great-grandmother’s secret apple pie recipes!) And master artist Deborah O’Connor will make an heirloom silhouette portrait of you (or your pet!) in less than 10 minutes, snip, snip.
You can also immerse yourself in 19th-century life with a rare peek inside some of Roxbury’s most distinguished Victorian grande dames and humble farmhouses, where original detail and structure have been preserved and where local student docents can show you how those architectural details reveal the everyday patterns of life and customs 100 years ago.
Some denizens of late 19th-century life will be popping up to speak for themselves, including John Burroughs, Susan B. Anthony and noisy young suffragists, out marching for their right to vote. You might even get to meet Helen Gould Shepard, the daughter of railroad baron Jay Gould, who was one of Roxbury’s most generous patron-citizens at the turn of the century. And don’t leave town without joining the panoramic Community Portrait on Saturday, Aug. 30 (19th-century dress required) or having your own “vintage” family portrait taken on Sunday, Aug. 31.
Learn all about what’s on offer for Turn of the Century Days, including schedules and contact information, at www.roxburyny.com. Admission to most events is free. You can also arrange to “get dressed” for the occasion in vintage wear by contacting the Roxbury Parks Department at 607 326-3722, where costumers are standing by with your petticoats and spats.
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by James F. Palka ©2013
On Saturday, April 27th, right here at St. Francis, Tucson will have an opportunity to become acquainted with a bold yet fundamental Middle East peace program that has been unfolding on the grassroots level. If you have been around for a while, you’ve probably thought that the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians might never end. The gut-wrenching images of violent, hateful acts perpetrated back and forth have been indelibly imprinted on our minds by the mainstream media.
After all, this particular “resettlement” conflict has been going on since the founding of Israel in 1948. But if the six-and-half decade parade of elected officials, military leaders, political strategists, and media pundits in that land – and in the US and other involved countries – had an answer or really wanted peace, wouldn’t we have seen significant results by now? The whole mess remains pretty hopeless, right?
Well, not really. Not hopeless anymore in light of our current age of free-flowing information and instant communication that brings new and greater opportunities for shared experiences, empathy, and global brotherhood. Or just call it the Age of the Global Village, where individuals, if united in their humanity, now have a newfound power and a global forum in which to make extraordinary changes. But it all starts on the local level and has proven to work in one of the Middle East’s hotbeds of conflict, Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
Global Village Square, a biannual gathering of Israelis and Palestinians who want to end the conflict in the Middle East, is the brainchild of Whit Jones. A psychologist and businessman from Boise, Idaho, Whit was approaching retirement over a decade ago, and instead of imagining how he might improve his golf game or how many trips to tropical ports he could string together to grab some of the good life, he looked for ways of giving back to the world. “I was very successful in my business,” he said, “with a lot of blessings in my work, and I felt a growing sense of wanting to help people not so fortunate. In fact, I felt inspired to work in areas with the really tough problems.”
It didn’t take long to find his direction. In 2003, Whit attended a meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia where a Palestinian and an Israeli were working together – yes, together – on various conflicts around the world. “Both these men had been seriously injured because of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” Whit said. “Physically, emotionally, and even mentally injured. But both came out of it not wanting to exact revenge on the other guy, but instead, they wanted to work toward peace.”
Whit approached the two men and asked if a retired psychologist from the United States could actually do anything that would be of assistance in Israel and the occupied zones. They replied that if he was coming to “fix” the age-old crisis, than he shouldn’t bother. But if he wanted to help a few families, a few communities, a few villages at a time, the opportunities were endless.
Wheels began turning and ideas formed. “My wife Paula and I realized that we could take advantage of being Middle East outsiders,” Whit said, “outsiders that lacked a political or religious agenda. The last thing the Middle East needs is more politics and religion!” They sprung into action and founded the Center for Emerging Futures (CEF), which is dedicated to the creation of dialogue, trust, and partnerships between Palestinians and Israelis living in that area. And since 2004, CEF has designed a framework, developed a methodology, and has actually changed the lives of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians for the better.
Global Village Square takes place literally on the borderline between the West Bank and Israel at a hilltop hotel overlooking the historic town of Bethlehem. Typically, they draw approximately 80 people, with 70 being evenly split between Israelis and Palestinians. The other ten are so-called internationals, there to observe and assist. Of course, the first goal is for the Israelis and Palestinians to meet and discover that they have a shared humanity. To do this, they are paired off in twos, fours, or even eights, and they hear equal amounts of anguish from both sides and recognize that everyone has suffered.
“The second part of what we do, which I think makes us unique,” Whit said, “is that through some very effective techniques, the groups find out for themselves what they might want to do. You don’t say, ‘Here’s some money. Now go do what we tell you.’ This approach basically never works.”
The event runs two days and participants stay overnight at the hotel. “There’s a lot of eating, singing, talking, and things like that at night, which is also crucial to the connection people make with each other.” Picture Israelis and Palestinians singing together and you’ll get a sense of what amazing things are happening here!
The CEF also facilitates periodic Family Village Square gatherings at the same hotel as well as other locations, with children from both sides, formerly trained to hate one another, who end up cooking together, playing together, and building things together, most of which is done wordlessly. And recently, Israeli and Palestinian soccer coaches met for the first time and immediately gifted one another and exchanged hugs. And then they sat down two-by-two and began to talk. “What you find …” Whit began, his voice cracking with tearful emotion, “is the hunger at all ages to make a connection. They want to get out of this terrible conflict.”
There’s much more to tell, and you’ll have an opportunity to learn it first hand on April 27th. “We will have one Palestinian and either one or two Israelis with us,” said Whit. “They are the people who now run Global Village Square meetings for us in the Middle East.” At this St. Francis gathering, the first ever in the United States, they will be given a forum in which to share their experiences. “Not a political speech, nor as government representatives,” Whit assured, “but just citizens in the Middle East community who want to share what they know and what their life is like.”
And if we Tucsonans could witness this, could sit at lunch with these courageous men and connect with them and learn something true and important – apart from what TV tells us – then this alone could make the day a tremendous success.
“If we connect as human beings, humans whoall work, love, live, fear, hope and seek friendship, then we can reconcile our differences on a human level and resolve conflicts we don’t really want or need.”
Global Village Square at St. Francis, championed and organized by David Wilkinson, will take place in the church sanctuary on Saturday, April 27th from 8:00am to 4:00pm and will also be intended as a dialogue between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Admission is free.
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Forgive us this and any other self-indulgent posts today, but it’s an exciting day for Chq — we’re the subject of an hourlong PBS documentary playing at 10 p.m. in many markets across the country! Above, in a photo by the Daily’s Roger Coda, you see some of the crew taping a Sunday worship service in 2009.
Response to the documentary, which was independently produced by Buffalo PBS affiliate WNED, has been overwhelmingly positive.
From Anne Neville’s “Visionary Chautauqua” in Saturday’s Buffalo News:
Chautauqua Institution is an idyllic retreat 90 minutes south of Buffalo that comes alive for nine weeks every summer, drawing 150,000 visitors with its rich daily schedule of study, discussion, recreation, arts and religious and cultural activities.
But the Institution is much more than that. For some families, it’s a summer tradition that stretches back for generations. For young performers, it’s a bridge between education and their professional careers. For religious people and clergy members, it’s a place to explore many kinds of spirituality. For children, it’s a chance to play freely in a welcoming, nearly car-free community.
The impact of Chautauqua Institution on American society is explored in the new WNED documentary, “Chautauqua: An American Narrative,” which will premiere at 10 p.m. Monday on WNED and on other PBS stations across the country. Keep reading →
From Dave Richards’ piece in Sunday’s Erie Times-News:
Just a month after I moved to Erie in 1984, someone asked me, “Have you been to Chautauqua yet?”
“What is that — a plantation?” I inquired. “The Tara of the North?”
After I finally made the trip, I realized that’s precisely what Chautauqua is — a trip, not a plantation. The place blew me away because I’d never seen anything quite like it.
All of those small yet exquisitely maintained homes squeezed onto blocks with narrow streets, like some 19th century village. When I asked where I could find the bookstore, I expected someone to say, “Turn left at the blacksmith.” Keep reading →
The documentary also got shout-outs from The Washington Post and The New York Times in their “what to watch today” TV columns. We hope you’ll take their advice!
More about the documentary →
Check your local listings →
More about Chautauqua Institution →
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The name Hwicce survives in Wychwood in Oxfordshire and Whichford in Warwickshire. These districts, or at least the southern portion of them, were originally conquered by the West Saxons under Ceawlin, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 577. In later times, however, the kingdom of the Hwicce appears to have been always subject to Mercian supremacy, and possibly it was separated from Wessex in the time of Edwin.
The first kings of whom we read were two brothers, Eanhere and Eanfrith, probably contemporaries of Wulfhere. They were followed by a king named Osric, a contemporary of Æthelred, and he by a king Oshere. Oshere had three sons who reigned after him, Æthelheard, Æthelweard and Æthelric. The two last named appear to have been reigning in the year 706.
At the beginning of Offa's reign we again find the kingdom ruled by three brothers, named Eanberht, Uhtred and Aldred, the two latter of whom lived until about 780. After them the title of king seems to have been given up. Their successor Æthelmund, who was killed in a campaign against Wessex in 802, is described only as an earl.
The district remained in possession of the rulers of Mercia until the fall of that kingdom. Together with the rest of English Mercia it submitted to King Alfred about 877-883 under Earl Æthelred, who possibly himself belonged to the Hwicce. No genealogy or list of kings has been preserved, and we do not know whether the dynasty was connected with that of Wessex or Mercia.
See Bede, Historia eccles. (edited by C Plummer) iv. 13 (Oxford, 1896);W de G Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, 43, 51, 76, 85, 116, 117, 122, 163, I87, 232, 233, 238 (Oxford, 1885-1889).
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Ireland: The need for green infrastructure on Europe’s ‘Emerald Isle’
Ireland industrialized and urbanized both later and to a lesser extent than many other European countries. It is known for its beautiful green countryside and pastoral villages and is considered to have low pollution levels in terms of water and air quality.
Yet Ireland lost most of its forestland long ago due to the widespread establishment of agriculture. This put stresses on the survival native species, but hedgerows, riverbanks and other ‘green corridors’ still enable vestiges of Ireland’s native ecosystems to survive.
The scale of Ireland’s forests have grown in recent years to cover around 10% of the island, yet most forestland in the country is comprised of non-native species and is home to ecosystems far less diverse than what was originally there.
Government green infrastructure policies have recently been criticized by Ireland’s Sustainable Development Council, Comhar, the Irish word for ‘partnership’. Comhar’s director, Dr. Cathy Maguire, believes the government should take a more proactive approach, marrying quality of life issues with the preservation and nurturing of biodiversity and ecosystems as well as mitigating the effects of climate change, according to an article in the Irish Times.
In a recent report by Comhar entitled ‘Creating Green Infrastructure for Ireland’, Dr. Maguire outlines different ways in which the government should might manage environmental issues alongside economic and cultural needs.
From an article in the Irish Examiner:
Dr Maguire said the infrastructure plan would minimise conflicts between environmental and economic goals such as the eight- year struggle between locals and energy giant Shell over the Corrib gas project in Mayo.
The report should prove useful for property developers interested in building sustainable projects, which are resilient to climate change, according to an article in Silicon Republic.
For more on this topic see the following article in the Irish Times:
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Skip to Main Content
Unlike terrestrial networks, the received signal strength in maritime wireless networks are subjected to perturbations due to the sea movement. Surface motions at sea cause variations in antenna heights and orientations of the communicating node (e.g. ships and buoys), thus affecting the received signal strength. In order to minimize such undesirable effects, we carried out a detailed study of the relationship between sea waves and the received signal strength. The effect of antenna gain variations due to tilting of antenna masts were studied by modeling sea waves. The channel path-loss variations were studied using a two-ray path-loss model for the maritime environment. Our analysis showed that the sea wave movements affect both short and longer links. We proposed a simple scheme to avoid the use of unstable links and implemented it on the QualNet network simulator. We carried out IEEE 802.16-based mesh network simulations with sea terrain and path loss models. We observed performance improvements in packet delay and throughput when the stable link selection scheme was used.
Date of Conference: 14-17 Oct. 2008
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While many of the goals or desires from both practices overlap, there are distinct differences between hypnosis and meditation which should be clarified.
Hypnosis is appropriate if you have a specific goal you wish to achieve. Be it to regress to a point in our life that has caused trauma, or for a specific desire, such as to stop smoking.
Traditional Meditation is less structured, in that clearing the conscious mind allows thoughts or feelings to surface, while trying not to attach to the emotion of them.
For example, I have a friend in her 30′s who has had a rocky relationship with her father. They fought frequently through her teens and have not spoken often since.
In meditation, she became aware that she blamed her father for his strict discipline and her unhappiness. Now aware of the problem, she was hypnotized with the intent of addressing this issue. With a systematic regression she witnessed an event she had blocked from her conscious memory.
It was a moment in her childhood where she hid in fear of punishment in her closet. While full of anger, she declared her hate for him. At the time it was true, but with the perspective of time – and having a naughty child herself, she relived that moment and forgave him for his actions – now knowing he was doing his best.
The next day her father called for a random chat – which he had never previously done. I hear their relationship is well on the way to repair.
Meditation made her aware of a deep-seeded problem, and hypnosis was the tool to fix it.
Hypnosis and Meditation
It is important to know the Difference between Hypnosis and Meditation.
Personally, my history and experience has been with guided and traditional meditation – which is why my attention was grabbed by Truth About Hypnosis™ program.
Quickly, let me introduce you to Jim Katsoulis. He has personally conducted over FIVE THOUSAND private hypnosis sessions, and spent tens of thousands of dollars in training to learn the information that is included in his program.
“I’m thankful for having been able to learn from some of the best people in the fields of personal change. And have been certified as a Master Hypnotist through the National Guild of Hypnotists, received my Master NLP Practitioner Certification from Bennett/Stellar University, and trained personally with the creator of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming), Richard Bandler to get my NLP Trainer Certification.
“I’ve also been lucky enough to get ‘behind the scenes’ access to some of the top Hypnotist’s in the World through my Truth About Hypnosis Interview Series… and I am going to be sharing these life-changing secrets with you in the program.”
You can get complimentary access to these Cutting Edge Hypnosis trainings by following this link…
The Truth About Hypnosis™
The Truth About Hypnosis™ program will teach you many powerful hypnosis secrets.
* Joe Vitale teaches you instant hypnotic tricks that allow you to double your motivation and create permanent change, without any willpower…
* Wendi Friesen explains how hypnosis can be used to naturally eliminate addictions and reveals the ONE power induction used by Master Hypnotists you can use to easily put your friends into a trance…
* Dr. Brian Alman shares the most powerful indirect hypnosis commands he learned first hand from Milton Erickson that you can use to make powerful changes to yourself and others…
* Michael Lovitch debunks some of the most common misconceptions about hypnosis and shares the key factors you must consider when choosing an effective hypnotist…
* Bill Harris teaches the secret technique used to meditate like a monk and that can instantly solve 99% of all weight loss, smoking and stress reduction problems out there…
* Steve G Jones, M.Ed. reveals the exact hypnotic methods he uses on his celebrity clients in Hollywood and how you can use hypnosis to covertly influence people around you…
* Adam Eason exposes the mistake that 97% of the public makes when it comes to changing habits and the one hypnotic technique that will change your entire life…
* Keith Livingston uncovers the most common and powerful forms of every day hypnotic language patterns being used on us and how we can protect ourselves form them…
* Tom Nicoli spills his guts and reveals the exact weight loss hypnosis techniques he used to successfully help his contestant shed 40 pounds on Dateline NBC’s Ultimate Diet Challenge…
And much, much more emailed straight to your inbox.
The emails will teach you everything you need to know about how to use hypnosis, in order to master your mind, control your behaviors, and influence the people around you. It is completely free to sign up for this profound, transformational and ultimately life-changing information.
Every single week, delivered right to your inbox, you are going to get the training you need to master the art of hypnosis.
* Discover exactly how you can hypnotize anyone – even your boss!
* Uncover the myths of hypnosis and find out what you can REALLY do with the right training.
* Recognize when someone else is trying to control YOU… so that you are never duped again.
* Know the secrets, information and the case studies on brainwashing
* See the “behind the scenes” of the different stages of hypnosis
* Discover the complete structure of an effective hypnosis session
* Uncover the secrets to healing traumas and other painful experiences
* Understand how to put someone under & bring someone out of a trance
* Use the most effective hypnotic persuasion tools in your everyday life
* Discover how you can read minds just by reading body language
* Cure stress, phobias, and insomnia with hypnosis
* Start making money using your new-found hypnosis skills
* Uncover the secrets to programming yourself for Peak Performance!
* And much, much more…
You can get complimentary access to these Cutting Edge Hypnosis trainings by clicking
The Truth About Hypnosis™
There are very few hypnotists that are willing to share their most powerful tactics, their biggest secrets and their most effective strategies. Sure, there are a few guys out there who might try to sell you some general information… or a few little tricks…
But there isn’t anyone out there who is willing to give you the TRAINING you need to control people’s actions, to take charge of your own behavior, or to help others create the changes they need.
I have signed up to the email series, and am very much looking forward to expanding my knowledge and practical skills.
It’s time for you to STOP feeling like you have NO CONTROL over your life!
It’s time for you to start discovering the secrets of the greatest hypnotists in the world, it’s time for you to get the training that you deserve, and it’s time for you to finally take control…
I hope you better understand the difference between hypnosis and meditation.
Enjoy Your Journey, Nigel Coates.
Click The Truth About Hypnosis™ for your free subscription.
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Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.
Not too long ago, the generation gap meant parents didn't understand why ripped jeans cost twice as much as regular ones or why every other word coming out of their child's mouth was "like."
Now the gap means employers don't understand why twentysomethings straight out of college expect a high salary and lots of vacation time.
Employees under the age of 29, also known as Generation Y, expect their employers to provide more benefits and other perks than their older counterparts, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com and Harris Interactive. Gen Y workers want better pay, a flexible work schedule and company-provided BlackBerrys and cell phones.
Eighty-seven percent of hiring managers and HR professionals say Gen Y exhibits a sense of entitlement that older generations don't. But not all Gen Y-ers see it that way. Mark Treichel, a recent college graduate, says it's more an expectation of give and take than a sense of entitlement.
"Employers expect entry-level employees to have substantial work experience, be top of their class, dress professionally, et cetera," Treichel says. "Personally, I worked hard at two year-round internships while still going to school my last two years. I don't expect high pay and a BlackBerry, but I do expect to be compensated for the hard work I put in preparing for the position."
Alison Bailin, 27, also believes her generation wants to see a significant return on years of education. "College expenses have skyrocketed, leaving many of us in debt," says the account executive. "Many career fields require one year or more of a [usually] unpaid internship, so we are joining the work force with a year or more experience than many previous generations."
Technology is largely responsible for the shift in expectations and employers' willingness to adapt to them. Some of the world's most visited Web sites, such as Facebook and YouTube, made their creators millionaires before their 30th birthdays. For some Gen Y-ers, this is ammunition when entering the work force.
"Companies desperately want to be a part of the Web 2.0/user-generated content, MySpace, YouTube phenomenon. Who better to guide that shift than Gen Y?" asks Matt Dornic, 26, president of the public relations firm 3 Dog Communications.
Dornic reminds employers that this generation of workers not only grew up during a technological revolution, they participated in it.
"We are a people that had cell phones in high school," he says. "Of course we are going to expect to have the most up-to-date gadgets in order to compete in today's sleepless digital market."
Bailin agrees. "I think if other generations had such technologies as cell phones and BlackBerrys, they would work toward getting them financed through work as well."
Bailin's assessment emphasizes just how much her generation has incorporated technology into daily life. Forty-nine percent of employers cite Gen Y's preference for e-mail or phone calls over face-to-face meetings as the biggest communication gap between Gen Y and co-workers.
So what are companies going to do about it?
Fifteen percent of employers reported modifying their policies in order to appease their Gen Y employees. Of those employers who made changes, 57 percent implemented more flexible work schedules and 33 percent created new recognition programs.
"As companies' cultures evolve with each generation, you see all workers benefiting from a variety of viewpoints and work styles," says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com.
Just how much Gen Y-ers and their employers will accommodate one another has yet to be seen. One thing all workers, regardless of their age, should remember is that any new perks are available to everybody. E-mail to a friend
Copyright CareerBuilder.com 2009. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority
All About Worklife
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By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
A weak storm system is slated to come through Bakersfield beginning Thursday with a good possibility of rain lasting until early Saturday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Andersen said there's very little moisture in the system headed toward Bakersfield, and total rainfall for Thursday and Friday combined isn't expected to add up to much.
"A tenth of an inch would be pretty generous at this point," Andersen said.
There's a 40 percent chance of rainfall Thursday, with a 50 percent chance Friday, Andersen said. The system will be widely scattered, and as much as an inch of snow could fall on the Grapevine.
Traffic could be impacted by the snow, but not enough is expected to close the Grapevine.
Andersen said a high of 58 degrees is forecast for Thursday with a low of 40 Thursday night. Friday's high is expected to be 51 degrees, with the low dropping to 35.
Temperatures will rebound a bit with a high of 53 on Saturday and almost 60 on Sunday, he said. And while some patchy fog could appear Wednesday morning, once the system blows in Thursday there's not likely to be any.
Anderson said Bakersfield is off from its average July through January rainfall. Normal precipitation over that period is 3.24 inches, and from July 1, 2012 through Jan. 31, 2013 only 1.62 inches had fallen.
"We're quite dry," he said.
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Disclosure and Consent Among Adolescents with HIV
July 2010 - The number of children under 15 living with HIV was estimated at 2.1 million worldwide in 2008.1 As these children are becoming adolescents, issues of disclosing their HIV status to them and gaining consent for their participation in HIV care and research are increasingly important to providers, caregivers, and the adolescents themselves. Despite the impact of these issues, however, there is no standard practice within Asia for how and when to approach disclosure and consent.
A camp in Thailand for youth with HIV.
The struggle to find appropriate approaches to disclosure and informed consent is growing as the pediatric epidemic in the region matures. A recent study exploring consent in resource-limited countries found that lack of autonomy, illiteracy, poverty, and socio-cultural and religious diversity complicate consent and disclosure practices.2 Investigators emphasized the importance of involving families and communities in making decisions about participation in research. Particularly challenging is the need to protect the privacy rights of adolescents when obtaining consent from parents or guardians.
It is important for adolescents and their legal guardians to fully comprehend the research and understand who will have access to what information. Towards this end, the processes of disclosure and obtaining informed consent should be conducted in local languages, prepared and delivered in a manner that is culturally appropriate and reflects the sex and developmental age of the adolescent, and involves counselors with experience in information disclosure and methods of communication. The need to view the process of disclosure as a continuous rather than a discrete event was emphasized, as was the importance of providing ongoing access to family counseling.
Disclosure and consent are critical issues for adolescents. As the need for HIV research involving adolescents increases, age-appropriate and culturally sensitive models are needed to more effectively support care providers in this complex proces
1. UNAIDS. Global Facts and Figures 2009. data.unaids.org/ pub/FactSheet/2009/20091124_FS_global.en.pdf
2. Mystakidou K, et al. Ethical and practical challenges in implementing informed consent in HIV/AIDS clinical trials in developing or resource-limited countries. SAHARA J. 2009 Sep; 6(2):46-57.
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The humanitarian organization DARA issued a report Wednesday saying that 100 million people may die by 2030 as a direct result of climate change. 90% of those affected would be in third world nations; the remaining 10% are thought to be sick and elderly in places closest to the equator.
With temperatures soaring due to mankind’s abuse of the world’s resources, startling and disturbing new environmental disasters are occurring each day. In July of this year 97% of the country of Greenland melted as temperatures across the globe reached new highs.
Sadly, due to this current government’s partisan crisis, not much will be done to prevent further environmental disasters. We can only hope that our nation’s elected officials get their heads out of their asses. With a staggering number projected to die – 100,000,000 – directly because of climate change, the government must do all it can to pass further measures to protect the environment before it too late.
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LAS VEGAS--()--Coming off a major growth year, magicJack inventor and founder Dan Borislow introduces another industry first: the smallest, lowest cost, plug and play femtocell technology.
“We believe our technology might be the only one that makes sense for any telephone operator to deploy. With over five million magicJacks in the hands of consumers and business owners across the globe, magicJack users create a massive network that will be available via the femtocell technology.”
What is our femtocell?
magicJack’s femtocell technology enables your cell phone or smart phone to connect through our Voice Network, instead of your carrier network. By utilizing our network via a magicJack account that costs just $20 a year, you may save hundreds and even thousands of dollars a year by offsetting cellular minutes. In addition, when calling internationally, customers will save anywhere from 95-100 percent off current cellular carrier rates. Up to 50 percent of mobile users have terrible phone reception in their houses or small businesses. With our femtocell technology, people will get exceptionally clear quality voice calls every time.
This femtocell will work with mobile phones from potentially any carrier and you may even use an old GSM cell phone without any paid service plans with a carrier. Not only can people connect to their own magicJack device but they can also connect to other femtocell-enabled magicJacks at friends’ houses and businesses. All the user has to do is come within eight feet of the magicJack one time to register the connection and then talk away within a range of a 3000 square foot house.
Other companies have spent up to billions of dollars developing versions of femtocell but they have not achieved the ease-of-use, considerably smaller size and very low cost structure of our femtocell technology. These factors will be critical in determining which company may achieve wide scale deployment using femtocell. magicJack has been developing this technology for over six years and has taken an entirely different path than the rest of the industry. Dr. YW Sing, the inventor of the first video phone chip, and Dan Borislow, the inventor of magicJack, in collaboration have designed and built a new chip that enables our femtocell product. This same chip will revolutionize the way we are able to reach 911 emergency centers too. Said Borislow, “We believe our technology might be the only one that makes sense for any telephone operator to deploy. With over five million magicJacks in the hands of consumers and business owners across the globe, magicJack users create a massive network that will be available via the femtocell technology.” The femtocell product will first be available to magicJacks' existing customer base.
The YMAX Voice Network has supported magicJack with complete reliability as its growth scaled to 200,000 new customers per month in 2009. Our parent company YMAX designed the network to be the lowest cost and highest quality voice network in the industry with more switches/gateways (50 plus) and more session border controllers for security than any other telecom company. YMAX is certified in all 50 states and has the largest breadth of area codes in the country.
Who is magicJack and YMAX?
magicJack is a subsidiary of YMAX. YMAX not only owns magicJack, it also owns its own chip company, softphone company, softswitch/SBC/application server company and has two patents with six others pending. YMAX believes all of its subsidiaries have the market leading technology in their respective fields.
In the past two years, magicJack has sold over five million magicJacks. These plug and play devices can replace home or business phone service for just $20 a year by providing free local and long distance, free voice mail, your own phone number and many other features. Since its launch, the magicJack has received numerous product of the year awards. magicJack is adding 8,000 new customers a day and is sold in almost every major retailer and online. Radio Shack gave magicJack their most innovative product of the year award in 2009. We expect to see additional awards once the femtocell technology is introduced in 2010.
YMAX delivers close to a billion minutes a month now with 99.9% reliability. It has not only been the fastest growing telephone provider ever but has increased its customer care scores by over 10 times in the last two years. Customers reach us on average within four seconds, 24/7. Customers are asked to grade us between 1 and 5 with 5 being excellent service. We began with one 1 to three 5’s. Now on any given day, we get one 1 to forty 5’s. Rated an A by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), this rating is well deserved.
magicJack is currently rolling out a major upgrade to save your contacts and recently called numbers on our network so they are more accessible to you. If you add a second location or use our soon-to-be-announced, stand-alone service (similar to Skype but at a fraction of the cost and with better call quality), you can share this important data across all your phones and computer.
YMAX is a profitable company that had GAAP revenues of about $30 million in 2008 and $110 million in 2009.
magicJack will be exhibiting at the ShowStoppers media event tonight and hosting a private media party for viewing the femtocell technology in the Wynn Fairway Villas (#307) adjacent to the ShowStoppers ballroom. Please be in touch with Kari Hernandez at email@example.com for access to the private event where we are giving away over 300 magicJacks.
About YMAX Corp. and magicJack LP
YMAX Corp. is a modern phone company with one of the largest newly deployed CLEC networks in the United States. Led by telecommunications veteran Daniel Borislow, YMAX provides high quality, low-cost phone calls via the innovative magicJack USB device and YMAX Voice network that puts an end to monthly phone bills. magicJack LP is a wholly owned subsidiary of YMAX Corp. YMAX also owns SJ Labs, the world leader in VoIP software, and offers its customized softphone solution with all magicJacks. YMAX is a private company based in Palm Beach, Florida. Additional information about YMAX can be found at www.ymaxcorp.com. To purchase or read more about the magicJack, go to www.magicjack.com. The magicJack is also available in most major retailers including RadioShack, Walmart, Best Buy, Fry’s and Walgreens.
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Porgy and Bess On Broadway
Is the “Porgy and Bess” currently on Broadway worth seeing? Consider these other questions:
Is “Porgy and Bess” racist?
Is it an opera or a musical?
How important is that goat cart to you?
That “Porgy and Bess” is not just any show is glimpsed from its treatment in The New York Times, which has called this production “tepid,” explicitly or implicitly, in at least five reviews by three staff critics and a columnist. Would any other show characterized as lacking force or enthusiasm get so much attention?
Surely some of this is because of Stephen Sondheim, who wrote an eviscerating letter in response not to the show itself (which he hadn’t seen) but to comments made in a published interview by this production’s director Diane Paulus (best-known as the director of the hit revival of “Hair”), star Audra McDonald, and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who revised the 77-year-old libretto by DuBose Heyward, about the melodramatic goings-on in Catfish Row, a fictional black community in Charleston, South Carolina. Sondheim seems to hold a unique position in the theater world these days; if Jerry Herman had written such a letter, would it have had the same effect?
But it is not Sondheim alone that has turned this production of “Porgy and Bess” (officially called “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess”) into a must-see show of the season, despite its disappointments.
“Porgy and Bess,” is a work many people think they know, but what they know is the music, the glorious songs composed by George Gershwin, a breathtaking — revolutionary — fusion of Blues, gospel, spirituals, Tin Pan Alley, jazz, classical. “Summertime” may be the most recorded song in history, with tens of thousands of versions, from Billie Holiday to The Zombies. Compared to the songs themselves, the show for which Gershwin wrote “Summertime” –– and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “A Woman Is A Sometime Thing” and “My Man’s Gone Now” – is performed irregularly. The last revival of the musical in New York was at Radio City Music Hall for five weeks three decades ago.
One reason surely why this is so – which Sondheim omits completely from
his letter, and indeed is mentioned only a handful of times in the hundreds of comments his letter generated – is the uncomfortable question of racial stereotyping.
“Porgy and Bess” has had a complicated life, according to a fascinating account by James Standifer. George and Ira Gershwin wrote the songs to a story by DuBose Heyward that was originally a novel and then adapted with his wife Dorothy Heyward into a play, “Porgy,” which opened on Broadway in 1927.
Heyward was a white native of South Carolina and had what was considered an enlightened attitude at the time: “I saw the primitive Negro as the inheritor of a source of delight that I would give much to possess.” George Gershwin himself wrote: “I have adapted my method to utilize the drama, the humor, the superstition, the religious fervor, the dancing and the irrepressible high spirits of the race.”
The Gershwins’ insistence that the cast be comprised of black performers (rather than the standard practice of hiring white performers in blackface) meant that what they created could not be performed at the Metropolitan Opera, which had commissioned George Gershwin in the first place to compose an American opera on a subject of his choosing, but which barred African-Americans from performing on its stage.
Todd Duncan, the original Porgy in the 1935 Broadway debut of “Porgy and Bess,” later wrote: “I knew it would cause controversy among my people because of its representation of black life and music.” The original script contained frequent use of the “n” word, the most common epithet for black people. “Members did not like this,” said Etta Moten, who replaced Anne Brown as Bess, “but were afraid to object, that being the tenor of the times.” (Eventually, Ira Gershwin eliminated the epithet.)
Two decades later, William Warfield, who played Porgy in a European tour, said “the black community wasn’t listening to anything about plenty of nothing being good enough for me. Blacks began talking about being black and proud.” Harry Belafonte declined the role of Porgy in the 1959 Otto Preminger film, viewing it as demeaning. A decade after, Harold Cruse, co-founder of the Black Arts Theater in Harlem and later a black studies professor, said “Porgy and Bess belongs in a museum and no self-respecting African American should want to see it, or be seen in it.”
Attitudes obviously are evolving, but this is the necessary context to understand the effort by the Gershwin estate to ask the current creative team to revise the piece. Much scorn and ridicule has been expressed for the change in title to “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” seen as a denigration of the Heywards. From where I sit, it is the Gershwin songs that make “Porgy and Bess” eternally thrilling; the Heyward story and dialogue are at best dated. (DuBose Heyward did write the lyrics for some of the most memorable of the songs.)
The changes to the script, in my view, are largely improvements, and will in any case go unnoticed by all but the most diligent aficionados; the overall plot remains the same: Porgy is in love with Bess, a loose woman and a drug addict who wants to live a decent life, but bounces from the brute Crown to the crippled Porgy, back to Crown, then Porgy, then the sinuous and insinuating drug dealer Sportin’ Life. (It is not clear whether the Sondheim letter scared the new production off more drastic changes.) The heavy Gullah dialect has been translated for a general audience. In the original, we first see Porgy about to join a game of craps, saying “I got a pocket full of the Buckra money.” This has been changed to “I got a pocket full of the white folks’ money.”
The residents of Catfish Row still call the white policemen “boss.” The policemen no longer call the residents “uncle.” Lori-Parks has deftly rearranged or interpolated lines of dialogue to avoid what most offended audiences in the past: Now it is clearer that Porgy is singing of his happiness with Beth in “I Got Plenty O’ ‘Nuttin” (retitled “I Got Plenty of Nothing”) rather than exulting that he is poor and oppressed.
Some of the characters have been eliminated, among them a white patrician named Archdale meant to be sympathetic, who posts bond for another (eliminated) character because “his folks used to belong to my family.” The emphasis now seems to be on creating a sense of a self-contained black community with whom the audience can identify, rather than presenting exotic “others.”
This may help explain why Porgy no longer rides around in a goat cart; he uses a cane and a leg brace. For some reason, this seems to irk a lot of people, and inspired the funniest line in Sondheim’s diatribe: “So now he can demand, ‘Bring my cane!’ Perhaps someone will bring him a straw hat too, so he can buck-and-wing his way to New York.”
One need not be a purist, though, to be disappointed by some of the changes in the traditional presentation of the music; one need only have seen “Porgy and Bess” in the opera house, or heard classic recordings of it. I was not troubled by the replacement of recitatives with spoken dialogue; this “Porgy and Bess” is on Broadway, after all. Those who object to a Broadway musical treatment of this work might be conveniently forgetting that “Porgy and Bess” was reportedly not really taken seriously as an opera in the United States until the 1976 production at the Houston Opera, and wasn’t even performed at the Metropolitan Opera until 1985.
But it is hard to deny the letdown that results from a paltry 22-member orchestra and the unnecessary meddling of musical adapter Diedre Murray. This carries over to the singing. In the work song “It Take a Long Pull to Get There,” to pick a clear example, the grunted “huh” at the end of each line lacked the oomph of the full-force operatic approach.
What redeems the music are the stand-outs in the cast. Nikki Renée Daniels is a lovely Clara, the character who initially sings “Summertime,” in this production joined by her husband Jake, played by Joshua Henry, last on Broadway in “The Scottsboro Boys.” Phillip Boykin, making his Broadway debut as the murderous Crown, has a convincingly brute presence and a mountainous voice. Norm Lewis, an established Broadway star, makes for a stirring Porgy, his voice appropriate for the Richard Rodgers if not La Scala.
But this “Porgy and Bess,” as you may have heard, belongs to Audra McDonald, whose voice soars operatically even as her every gesture and facial expression attempt to capture a real woman behind what everybody seems to be calling an archetype. I wish I knew how Bess were an archetype, and why “archetype” is somehow better than “stereotype.”
The outrage over this revision of “Porgy and Bess” for some reason brings to mind the reactions to the Village Halloween Parade. When it began, it was a neighborhood affair, startlingly original, modest, and small, the various paraders through back-streets of Greenwich Village almost like an art happening. Its popularity transformed it into an annual televised extravaganza attracting millions of people and channeled to the main avenues; a tourist event. There are many Villagers nostalgic for the original, indignant at what it has become.
But here is the difference with “Porgy and Bess”: The original is still around — or rather, the operatic version put together decades after its debut — available on albums and in opera houses. Both “Porgy and Bess” and “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” are worth seeing.
THE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS
At the Richard Rodgers Theater
By George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward and Ira Gershwin, adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre L. Murray; directed by Diane Paulus; choreography by Ronald K. Brown; orchestrations by William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke; sets by Riccardo Hernandez; costumes by ESosa; lighting by Christopher Akerlind; sound by Acme Sound Partners; wig, hair and makeup design by J. Jared Janas and Rob Greene; music supervisor, David Loud; music director and conductor, Constantine Kitsopoulos; music coordinator, John Miller; associate director/production stage manager, Nancy Harrington; technical supervisor, Hudson Theatrical Associates; company manager, Bruce Klinger; general manager, Richards/Climan; associate producers, Ronald Frankel, James Fuld Jr., Allan S. Gordon, Infinity Stages, Shorenstein Hayes-Nederlander Theaters, David and Barbara Stoller, Michael and Jean Strunsky and Theresa Wozunk. Presented by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Rebecca Gold, Howard Kagen, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Brunish Trinchero/Lucio Simons TBC, Joseph and Matthew Deitch, Mark S. Golub and David S. Golub, Terry Schnuck, Freitag Productions/Koenigsberg Filerman, the Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Ken Mahoney, Judith Resnick, Tulchin/Bartner/ATG, Paper Boy Productions, Christopher Hart, Alden Badway, Broadway Across America, Irene Gandy and Will Trice..
Cast: Audra McDonald (Bess), Norm Lewis (Porgy), David Alan Grier (Sporting Life), Phillip Boykin (Crown), Nikki Renée Daniels (Clara), Joshua Henry (Jake), Christopher Innvar (Detective), Bryonha Marie Parham (Serena) and NaTasha Yvette Williams (Mariah).
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Buy tickets to “Porgy and Bess”
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Today’s guest blog post is from Adrienne Breidenstine with U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
Unaccompanied youth are an important, and sometimes, overlooked segment of the people who experience homelessness in our country. At the national level there is neither a current nor a reliable estimate of the number of youth experiencing homelessness in America. Many if not most youth experiencing homelessness go uncounted due to barriers for young people accessing adult-targeted shelters, their lack of connection to most social services, and many youth do not want to be counted. We have some information about youth homelessness through dated national surveys, federal data systems, anecdotal evidence, and a handful of studies in specific places. The information has been used to inform preliminary planning for how to address youth homelessness, but with limited results. We realize an intentional and coordinated strategy for getting to better data is essential to advance our understanding of the magnitude and reasons for youth homelessness and to refine our plan to end it.
In June 2010, the Administration launched Opening Doors, the first ever federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. This plan set the ambitious goal to end youth homelessness by 2020. The goal to end youth homelessness by 2020 is critical because it prompts us to address this problem in new ways by being timely, more creative, resourceful, and by coordinating an approach across agencies that takes into account the developmental challenges for youth transitioning to adulthood.
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), including key staff from the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Education (ED) collaborated to develop a framework for how we will move forward to end youth homelessness in America. In February, USICH released the Framework to End Youth Homelessness. The framework calls on agencies and systems at all levels to work together to improve youth outcomes to simultaneously achieve stable housing, permanent connections, education and employment, and well-being. To reach these outcomes, the framework includes two complementary strategies: 1) improve data quality and collection on youth experiencing homelessness, and 2) build capacity for service delivery.
Improving data quality and collection will provider a clearer understanding of the prevalence, characteristics, and needs of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. In order to improve data quality and collection the framework proposes three complementary strategies:
- Leverage HUD’s Point-in-Time count to improve strategies for counting youth by enhancing collaborations between Continuums of Care (CoCs), Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) providers, and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and developing youth-specific methods for counting unaccompanied homeless youth.
- Integrate the data system for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act grantees – the Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (RHYMIS) — with the Continuum of Care data system – the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
- Develop a national study that builds on program data and the HUD count that includes household surveys to get to a confident national estimate of youth homelessness.
Taken together, these three things will lead to an ongoing estimate of and better data about youth experiencing homelessness, which in turn will provide a mechanism for monitoring our progress in meeting the goal of ending youth homelessness by 2020.
Efforts to improve data on youth homelessness began with HUD’s 2013 Point-in-Time (PIT) count. HUD’s PIT Count is the main source of data used to track progress against the goals in Opening Doors. HUD issued PIT count guidance that required all CoCs to report on the number of persons in each household type by age category (under age 18, 18 to 24, and over age 24) for the 2013 PIT count. This new data reporting requirement allows HUD to capture more discrete data on unaccompanied homeless youth. In addition, USICH and its federal partners provided key technical assistance to Youth Count!, a community-driven initiative to develop effective strategies for counting unaccompanied homeless youth. The goal of this initiative is to identify promising strategies for conducting: 1) collaborative PIT counts of unaccompanied homeless youth that engage Continuums of Care (CoC), Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) providers, local education agencies (LEAs) homeless, and other local stakeholders; and 2) credible PIT counts that gather reliable data on unaccompanied homeless youth. This initiative will help to inform future national guidance on youth strategies for PIT counts and to foster meaningful partnerships between homeless service providers, school districts, and other mainstream service providers. Results of a cross-site evaluation of Youth Count! will be available in spring 2013.
While improvement of data on youth through the PIT count is critical, we recognize that the PIT has limitations and is not the only source of data on youth homelessness. Complementary methods, such as the integration of data systems and a national study, are also needed and are being pursued to get to a confident estimate of the number of youth experiencing homelessness. USICH, HUD, and HHS are exploring how to integrate HUD’s Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) and HHS’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information Systems (RHYMIS). Integrating HMIS and RHYMIS will improve our ability to capture more consistent information across federally funded housing and services programs to allow for a better understanding of the continuum of needs, services, and outcomes for homeless youth, families and single adults.
As data professionals we know that the potential impact of improving data quality is abstract to many people and that getting excited about better data can seem wonky, but it is a critical step that will move us closer to ending youth homelessness. Better data will inform the scope and scale of youth homelessness, inform future research, identify best practices and effective models of intervention, and highlight where there are gaps in the service delivery system. Ultimately, it is through the data that we will know when we have turned the corner and are firmly on the road to ending youth homelessness.
Management and Program Analyst,
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
For remainder of this blog post, the terms “homeless youth” or “youth homelessness” specifically refer to unaccompanied youth who are at-risk of or have experienced homelessness.
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Ten chemicals of major public health concern
Chemicals are part of our daily life. All living and inanimate matter is made up of chemicals and virtually every manufactured product involves the use of chemicals. Many chemicals can, when properly used, significantly contribute to the improvement of our quality of life, health and well-being. But other chemicals are highly hazardous and can negatively affect our health and environment when improperly managed.
Further information on the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern can be found from the following links:
- Air pollution
- Dioxin and dioxin-like substances
- Inadequate or excess fluoride
- Highly hazardous pesticides
Additionally, the leaflet listed below summarizes scientific evidence and provides risk management recommendations for the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.
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by Richard G. Baldwin
Baldwin's Home Page
A few days ago, I received an email message that read "How can I find out about XML in layman's language?" Initially, the technical snob in me responded by thinking that this message didn't deserve much consideration. After all, this site contains links to more than 800 high-quality links on XML. Certainly the author of the message should be able to find something among these 800+ links that would answer his question.
During the same time period, I was trying to work my way through the maze of tax material on a State of Texas web site to find information on sales tax in conjunction with a small business that I operate.
After spending several hours on the site, unable to find the answer to an especially important question on the remittance of sales tax, I found myself calling a 1-800 information number and (after being put on hold for a very long period of time) asking essentially the same question, "How can I find out about the sales tax laws in layman's language?"
After all, I said to myself, I shouldn't have to be an accountant, or shouldn't have to hire an accountant, simply to collect (and send to state tax authorities) 8.25-percent of the sales price on the electronic Java books that I sell to residents of Texas.
Suddenly the similarity of the two situations hit me. I realized that the Email message that I had received contained a perfectly valid question from someone just being introduced to XML. And telling that person to go my web site and search through 800+ links on XML (which unfortunately is what I did) is not a very satisfactory answer to the question.
After all, why should a person have to have a degree in computer science (or the persistence of a pit bull) just to understand the rudimentary aspects of something that is supposed to be available for the use of the publishing masses, so to speak?
So, I decided to attempt to write a series of articles explaining XML in layman's language, being particularly careful to avoid the use of technical jargon.
XML gives us a way to create and maintain structured documents in plain text that can be rendered in a variety of different ways.
Oops! There is the jargon creeping in again. Since I can't avoid the jargon entirely, I had better at least explain the meaning of the jargon.
I will attempt to answer this question by providing an example. A book is a structured document. In its simplest form, a book may be composed of chapters. The chapters may be composed of sections. The sections may contain illustrations and tables. The tables are composed of rows and columns. Thus, it would be possible to draw a picture that illustrates the structure of a book.
Characters such as the letters of the alphabet and punctuation marks are represented in the computer by numeric values, similar to a simple substitution code that a child might devise. For example in one popular encoding scheme (ASCII), the upper-case version of the character "A" is represented by the value 65, a "B" is represented by the value 66, a "C" is represented by 67, etc.
The actual correspondence between the characters and the specific numeric values representing the characters has been described by several different encoding schemes over the years. One of the most common and enduring schemes is a scheme that was devised a number of years ago by an organization known as the American Standards Committee on Information Interchange. This encoding scheme is commonly known as the ASCII code. Here is what one author has to say about the ASCII code.
"This stands for American Standards Committee on Information Interchange. What it means in practice is plain text, that is to say text which is readable directly without using any special software. The advantage of ASCII is that it is a lowest common denominator which can be displayed on any platform. The disadvantage is that it is rather limited and somewhat boring. The text cannot display bold, italics or underlined fonts, and there is no scope for graphics or hypertext. However, it is simple, ... and is almost idiot-proof as a means of information exchange. To see a short example of ASCII click HERE, or to see a journal article in ASCII click HERE."
To be accurate, I must point out that XML is not confined to the use of the ASCII encoding scheme. Several different encoding schemes can be used. However, all of them, have been selected to make it possible to read a raw XML document without the requirement for any special software.
Here I am referring to the string of sequential characters that makes up the document, before any specific rendering has been applied to the document.
The most common modern use of the word rendering probably means to present something for human consumption (not withstanding the fact that my grandmother who lived in the mountains of Virginia used to render pork fat to produce lard or something like that).
When we speak of rendering a drawing or an image, we usually mean that we are going to present it in a way that makes it look like a drawing or an image to a human observer. When we speak of rendering a document, we usually mean that we are going to present it in a way that a human will recognize it as a book, newspaper, or other document style, and can read it.
These days, there are at least two different ways to render a newspaper. One way is to print the information (daily news), mostly in black and white, on large sheets of low-grade paper commonly known as newsprint. This is the rendering format that ends up on my driveway each morning.
Another way to render a newspaper is to present the information on a computer screen, usually in full color, with the information content trying to fight its way through dozens of animated advertisements. This is the rendering format that ends up on my computer screen each day when I check for Email messages.
The base information for the newspaper doesn't (or shouldn't) change for these two renderings. After all, news is news and the content of the news shouldn't depend on how it is presented. What does change is the manner in which that information is presented.
A newspaper is a structured document consisting of pages, columns, etc. When the information content of a newspaper is created and maintained in XML, that same information content can be rendered either on newsprint paper, or on your computer screen without having to rewrite the information content.
If you visit the above link to the journal article rendered solely in ASCII, you will probably agree that from a presentation viewpoint it is pretty boring (no offense intended to the author of the article). However, through the use of XML, documents created and maintained in plain text need not necessarily be boring. Rather, it is possible to render those documents in rich and exciting ways.
Since by now, you are probably getting pretty bored with this article, I am going to cut it off at this point, and continue the discussion in my next article. Come back then to learn how XML uses boring plain text to render documents in ways that can be very interesting and informative.
In my next article I will discuss, in layman's language, the mechanism by which XML uses plain text to display richly-formatted structured documents.
Trying to wrap your brain around XML is sort of like trying to put an octopus in a bottle. Every time you think you have it under control, a new tentacle shows up. XML has many tentacles, reaching out in all directions. But, that's what makes it fun. As your XML host, I will do my best to lead you to the information that you need to keep the XML octopus under control.
This HTML page was produced using the WYSIWYG features of Microsoft Word 97. The images on this page were used with permission from the Microsoft Word 97 Clipart Gallery.
Copyright 2000, Richard G. Baldwin
Baldwin's Home Page
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Vietnam veterans sue for PTSD-related benefits
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was not recognized as a medical condition until 1980, leaving behind some 80,000 Vietnam War-era veterans who were likely suffering from the ailment when they were incorrectly handed less than honorable discharges, a lawsuit claims.
That status has kept them from receiving medical, disability and educational benefits that accrued to other veterans and left them in limbo, according to a class action suit filed in U.S. District Court Monday by the Veteran Legal Services Organization at the Yale Law School.
John Shepherd Jr., 65, of New Haven, the lead plaintiff, was awarded the Bronze Star with valor device for his actions in Vietnam, when he single-handedly rushed a Viet Cong bunker in 1969 in the Mekong Delta, killing several enemy soldiers, according to the suit.
This incident, in addition to Shepherd seeing his platoon officer killed as he was trying to pull Shepherd out of a ditch, “gravely wounded him with what we know as PTSD,” said Ivy Wang, one of the law student interns working on the case.
Since PTSD had yet to be recognized as an ailment, Wang said no one realized what was happening when Shepherd began wandering around the base in a daze and had to be led back to his bunker. When he refused to go back into the field, it was not recognized as a psychological disorder.
“I thought I was going to expire from fright,” Shepherd said Monday in recalling the culmination of those incidents when he was 21.
“After decades of struggling with anxiety, isolation and the shame of a less than honorable discharge,” symptoms that intensified after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Shepherd in 2004 was diagnosed by the Veterans Affairs medical center with service-connected PTSD, which was later confirmed by a psychiatrist at the Yale School of Medicine. Wang said.
“Something was simmering and it started to boil over. When I went to the Vets Center, I didn’t know what was going on,” Shepherd said Monday of his state of mind when he showed up and talked to social worker Amy Radivoy at the facility in West Haven eight years ago.
Since then his efforts to get an upgrade on his discharge have been rejected three times by the Army Board of Corrections for Military Records, despite the diagnosis.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) said he would work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense “to establish a more equitable and expeditious federal process for resolving these important issues.” He said the fact PTSD was not understood during the Vietnam War should not preclude reconsideration of individual cases. Continued...
Wang said research shows that in recent years the board has granted almost half of all discharge upgrade applications, but when it comes to Vietnam veterans, fewer than 2 percent of 145 requests have been granted since 2003.
“This discrimination against elderly, often indigent veterans with combat-related PTSD is intolerable,” said Dana Montalto, another law student interns working on the case.
The Army has a policy of not commenting on open court cases.
The suit does not seek any monetary award, just a change of discharge status so the veterans can qualify for benefits.
Shepherd, however, said if he does qualify for some disability payment, he plans to send a portion of it to the Wounded Warrior organization.
“I think it’s a great organization. But why do we have to have it? It’s because of all the shortfalls we have, people ... are taking it upon themselves to do something for the veterans who need the help, aside from the VA who is falling way way short,” Shepherd said.
Wang said under current policy, soldiers who feel they are suffering from PTSD have to be tested. She said veterans with it often become homeless, lose jobs, engage in substance abuse and have difficulty with close relationships.
Michael Wishnie, the supervising attorney at the law clinics, said they felt they had no choice but to sue when the administrative boards appointed to review the requests “seemed to be categorically denying all of these claims.”
Vietnam Veterans of America has joined Shepherd as a plaintiff in the suit.
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Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for www.theoaklandpress.com.
Informs on and discusses current matters of legal interest to readers of The Oakland Press and to consumers of legal services in the community.
Caren Gittleman likes talking cats. She'll discuss everything about them. Share your stories and ask her questions about your favorite feline.
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For some time now, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Monday business section has been devoted entirely to law and the legal profession. In this morning’s edition, there was an interesting article about the dearth of women candidates for judgeships on statewide courts in Pennsylvania.
The headline (“As judicial races take shape, few women are candidates”) may not be surprising, especially given the existence of organizations like Emily’s List that devote their efforts to recruiting women candidates for office. Nonetheless, it is worth relaying a few of the numbers before getting to a more interesting aspect of the article. The article reports that there are two vacancies on statewide courts this year–one on the Commonwealth Court, the other on the Superior Court. Only four women have expressed an interest in running for these judgeships, as compared to nine men. More broadly, the article reports that, since 2003, there have been fourteen statewide judicial vacancies–with 20 women and 36 men running for the seats.
What may be surprising is that the dearth of women candidates comes in the face of women’s success in actually winning these races. Of those same fourteen judicial vacancies since 2003, fully eleven were won by women.
Regarding the reasons why fewer women run for judicial office, the article says,
“They’re under-utilized,” Chris Borick, a political scientist and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said of women candidates.
“They’ve been targeted by both major parties, because there’s a lot of untapped resources, if you will, within the ranks.” The catch, though, seems to be that women are less inclined to involve themselves with party politics, despite the strong results, Mr. Borick said.
Studies have suggested that women shy away from running for such positions because they are disinterested in the confrontational nature of politics or perceive themselves as not being qualified enough.
“This is their perception,” Mr. Borick said. “The nature of the campaigns, women find unappealing. So, they opt not to join in the race. What you often have is very capable women, for a variety of reasons, opting to never take the chance of running.”
I would be interested in hearing our readers’ thoughts about whether these explanations are sensible or whether there might be other factors at play here.
To conclude this post, it is worth noting that, contrary to the approach of Wikipedia in addressing the lack of women contributors among its ranks, both political parties seem to recognize the need to work hard at recruiting women candidates for statewide judicial office in Pennsylvania:
David E. Landau, the chair of the Delaware County Democratic Party and a partner at Duane Morris, said it’s been a struggle to find women willing to run for political office or a judicial seat.
“But it’s not for a lack of trying,” he said, noting the issue has been a topic of two recent speeches he’s delivered. “It’s something that’s been troubling me. I don’t have an explanation for it.”
Mr. Landau said both parties are searching for answers to the problem. The solution so far, it seems, is to “work harder.”
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Soft magnetic, ferritic stainless steels must function flawlessly in a wide
variety of corrosive environments while retaining the right balance of essential
properties such as saturation induction, permeability, coercive force and
These alloys are critical to the performance of many electromechanical
devices such as fuel injectors, fuel pump laminations and solenoids for antilock
braking systems, and automatically adjusting suspension systems in the
They are also important in a variety of other applications such as industrial
solenoids and pumps to control the flow of corrosive fluids; many types of
cores, armatures, and relays; and valves to regulate the flow of corrosive
chemicals used in the manufacture of semi-conductors. This newer generation of
alloys can be considered as well for a host of control devices used in mildly
corrosive environments such as those found in refrigerators, washing machines,
steam irons, taps for soda and beer, coffee pots, irrigation and vending
Electronic controls have been integrated into a large number of automotive
and industrial functions. The alloys used in these mechanisms must have key
magnetic properties to optimize their performance in terms of output and
response time. Magnetic properties important to these alloys and components made
from them include:
Saturation induction or magnetization (Bs) – this is the force that
can be applied via a magnetic core to overcome mechanical forces (ie. springs).
High magnetic saturation allows development of a strong magnetic field, enabling
control devices like solenoids and fuel injectors to function with as little
input energy as possible. The higher the magnetic saturation or induced field,
the more force can be applied and the greater the mechanical efficiency of the
control component. Likewise, the higher the magnetic saturation the smaller and
lighter the component can be designed without any loss in performance.
Permeability – High permeability means that less magnetizing force,
with smaller applied field, is needed to obtain desired performance. High
permeability induces high magnetism, allowing the design of smaller, cheaper
components that can perform with greater efficiency and with less power
Coercive Force (Hc) - this force permits rapid demagnetization,
essential in opening and closing devices such as valves and injectors quickly.
The lower the force required to open and close without "sticking", the better.
Low coercive force, for example, can permit design of a smaller spring and fuel
injector to operate in harmony with a higher speed cylinder.
Electrical Resistivity – High electrical resistivity is desirable
because it impedes the formation of wasteful eddy current in AC or rapidly
pulsed DC applications. High resistivity means that less power is needed to
drive the control device. It is important to any valve or similar device
controlled by an electrical field. Low eddy current loss results in a more
responsive device which becomes more important as operating speeds increase.
Today’s soft magnetic, ferritic stainless steels evolved from basic soft
magnetic materials which progressively required increasing amounts of corrosion
resistance to meet newer application requirements. Tradeoffs had to be made in
the process to retain essential magnetic properties while balancing alloy
content to improve corrosion resistance. As service environments grew more
hostile, increased corrosion resistance became critical because the alternative
use of coatings usually resulted in magnetic air gaps and part failure.
High resistance to corrosion is essential, for instance, in alloys used with
fuels containing ethanol or methanol. These fuels sometimes contain corrosive
contaminants, particularly if produced beyond the U.S.A., that can cause fuel
injectors to malfunction. In a device as small as a fuel injector, no size
change or material loss from corrosion can be tolerated.
Good corrosion resistance is essential for many aqueous environments,
especially when chlorides are present to cause attack in the crevices inherent
in solenoid valves. Also to be considered is the extended shelf life these
alloys can give to products that must be stored in mildly corrosive environments
until placed in service.
Chromium plays a dominant role on the physical properties of ferritic
stainless steels. Tests in boiling corrosive water (low pH solution containing
chlorides) show increasing resistance with increasing chromium content. However,
they also indicate that 8% chromium provides adequate corrosion resistance,
along with the high saturation magnetization, which is adversely affected by
Other elements that influence corrosion resistance include molybdenum, strong
carbide formers such as niobium and titanium, and sulfur. Molybdenum improves
pitting resistance in the ferritic stainless alloys. Niobium (columbium) acts as
a stabilizing influence, helping to maintain corrosion resistance, especially if
the alloy component is welded during assembly. Sulfur, added to make
free-machining grades, is detrimental to corrosion resistance.
Ease of Fabrication
Choice of the best alloy for an application may depend largely on how the
intended component is to be machined and/or welded. Although some components can
be produced by cold or warm heading, some machining is involved in almost all
parts production. Apart from the obvious desire for high metal removal rates,
other issues are important such as surface finish, tool wear and suitability for
other operations such as welding.
Free machining additives such as sulfur, selenium, tellurium, lead, bismuth,
phosphorous and certain "soft oxides" have been used to improve machinability.
Other factors that influence machinability include grain size, hardness and
Sulfur is often not the best free-machining additive because too much of it
impairs magnetic performance, corrosion resistance, headability and weldability.
Therefore, the level of sulfur used must be carefully controlled. Sulfur content
has been increased in several of the newer controlled-chemistry soft magnetic,
ferritic stainless steels for parts or components that have to be mass produced,
or those that cannot be machined to specifications from conventional grades.
Selenium is less effective than sulfur on an equivalent weight basis,
although it is reported to provide a better surface finish. Lead and bismuth are
considered the best free-machining additives leading to high metal removal
rates, superior surface finishes and lower tool wear. However, use of lead is
limited by its toxicity and tendency to cause hot working problems. Phosphorus
has some undesirable effects on corrosion resistance, and is not commonly used
today. Some soft oxides have been used in stainless steels, but they tend to
form hard abrasive oxides that can reduce tool life.
Evolution of alloys
Three basic families of soft magnetic alloys preceded development of the
current ferritic stainless steels. Each has offered various combinations of
magnetic and mechanical properties. The three groups include:
Electrical Irons – these relatively pure, low carbon irons were the
first magnetic alloys. They offer the least corrosion resistance of all the soft
magnetic alloys, and provide good direct current soft magnetic properties. They
have been used for magnetic circuit cores and relays, and solenoids that
activate electrical controls.
Premium quality core irons, produced by vacuum melting, are stabilized with
vanadium to minimize degradation of magnetic properties over time, and provide
properties that are more uniform over the entire area of the magnet. These
properties can be customized to conform with the condition requested.
Silicon-Irons – the addition of silicon to low-carbon iron increases
both hardness and electrical resistivity, while retaining similar magnetic
properties. Silicon Core Iron B-FM, one of the most popular alloys in this
family, is a free-machining grade with electrical resistivity of 400 ìÙ-mm (40
This alloy has been used in applications requiring very low hysteresis loss,
high permeability, low residual magnetism and freedom from magnetic aging. Its
magnetic characteristics and cold working/cold forming properties are in the
same range as Silicon Core Iron B, without the phosphorus additive to improve
Chromium-iron Magnetic Stainless Steels – these alloys provide good
corrosion resistance for control devices exposed to weather, fuel or other
corrosive environments. While these steels have adequate magnetic properties for
core applications, they allow higher core losses and provide lower saturation
and permeability than silicon irons in core applications. Type 430F Solenoid
Quality stainless steel has the best magnetic properties and lowest residual
magnetism of the stainless steels. It has been used for corrosive service for
Type 430FR Solenoid Quality stainless offers improved wear resistance, higher
resistivity of 760 ìÙ-mm(76 uohm-cm) and increased
hardness. This grade is used as the reference alloy for the soft magnetic,
ferritic stainless steels. Due to the chromium addition, the alloy exhibits a
significant drop in saturation and increase in coercivity, compared with iron
(Fig. 2). Its good corrosion resistance and high resistivity provide benefits in
both industrial and consumer solenoids.
Ferritic Stainless Steels
It became increasingly apparent in recent years that the alloys available
then were not able to meet the newer, more demanding materials needs for fuel
injection and other technologies. Greater magnetic saturation than that found in
430FR stainless was required to create greater forces in smaller parts. At the
same time, good corrosion resistance was needed – more than that offered by core
iron or silicon iron, but perhaps not quite as much as that provided by 430FR
In response to changing materials requirements, Carpenter developed a family
of Chrome Core®alloys that provide a carefully balanced
combination of corrosion resistance, magnetic properties, cost and
fabricability. These are all controlled-chemistry, soft magnetic, ferritic
Chrome Core 8 and 8-FM alloys, containing 8% chromium, and Chrome
Core 12 and 12-FMalloys, containing 12% chromium, were the first two
grades in the series. The FM version of each alloy has enhanced machinability to
facilitate component fabrication. The sulfur addition to improve machinability
has minimal effect on the alloys’ magnetic properties.
Both of these alloys can be considered for use in magnetic components where
corrosion resistance superior to that of pure iron, low carbon steel and
silicon-iron alloys is desired without the substantial decline in saturation
induction associated with the 18% chromium-ferritic stainless steels.
Note that the saturation magnetization of Chrome Core 8 and 8-FM alloys is
highest (1.8 Bs) of all the Chrome Core alloys, and electrical resistivity the
lowest at 492 micro ohm-mm. The flux density (saturation magnetization) of the
Chrome Core alloys at both chromium levels, in fact, approaches that of
Electrical Iron and Silicon Core Iron B-FM at magnetic field strengths greater
than about 800 A/M. These two Chrome Core alloys also have the highest
coercivity (200 Hc) and maximum permeability (3100) in the Chrome Core alloys
Both grades have been used in a variety of automotive electromechanical
components including fuel injectors, fuel pump motor laminations and ABS
solenoids. They can be considered for control devices requiring some degree of
corrosion resistance, either in service or for extended shelf life without the
need for protective coatings.
When exposed to CM 85A fuel, with and without aeration, the Chrome Core 12
and 12-FM alloys have displayed corrosion resistance similar to or approaching
that of Type 430F/430FR Solenoid Quality stainless. Resistance is also
significantly better than that of Silicon Core Iron B-FM alloy.
All versions of both grades have been evaluated in an SAE CM85A corrosive
fuel mixture consisting of 15% gasoline and 85% aggressive methanol. The test
provided an oxidizing chloride environment and was, therefore, more severe than
many expected service environments. After 250 hours in an autoclave at 80°C (no
deaeration) the Chrome Core 8-FM alloy was far superior to the Silicon Iron B-FM
alloy, with a further improvement for the Chrome Core 8 alloy. The Chrome Core
12 and 12-FM alloy specimens approached the corrosion resistance of Type 430F
Solenoid Quality stainless.
Chrome Core 13 and 13-FM alloys were developed as candidate materials for
electromechanical devices that require optimum magnetic properties in a
stainless alloy. They were designed with slightly higher chromium (13%) than
that of the Chrome Core 12 alloys and key compositional changes to increase
electrical resistivity and lower coercivity while providing good corrosion
resistance and stable ferrite.
Increased electrical resistivity was accomplished with the minimal increase
in chromium content and by increasing silicon content to about 1.5%. The higher
silicon content also suppresses the formation of austenite, allowing for higher
heat treating temperatures. Soft magnetic properties were improved by reductions
in the carbon and nitrogen contents, and by modifications in bar processing.
Chrome Core 13 alloy, with its combination of magnetic properties and corrosion
resistance, can be considered for a variety of stringent automotive and
The introduction of this and the two lower-chromium alloys was motivated by
the desire of designers to directly replace silicon iron components. Improved
machinability for the high volume production of parts is offered by the FM
version of the Chrome Core 13 alloy. Sulfur content of up to 0.5% has been used
in the FM grade when the gain in machinability is more important than the slight
decline in magnetic performance.
Chrome Core 18-FM Solenoid Quality Stainless, with 18% chromium
content,is a soft magnetic ferritic material designed for use in more
corrosive environments than that tolerated by 18% Cr-Fe Type 430 stainless or
any of the other Chrome Core alloys mentioned previously. It has corrosion
resistance superior to that of Type 430FRSolenoid Quality Stainless with
generally similar magnetic properties.
Chrome Core 18-FM Solenoid Quality Stainless is stabilized with columbium to
provide improved corrosion resistance with optimum machinability. The alloy
balance also provides resistivity similar to that of Type 430FR stainless. High
resistivity is beneficial in applications involving AC excitation due to the
suppression of eddy current losses.
Corrosion resistance superior to that of Type 430FR stainless has been
demonstrated by critical crevice corrosion tests in 5% FeCl3 + 1%
NaNO3. Crevice specimens were exposed for 24 hours at successively
higher temperatures until crevice attack was noted. Type 430FR Solenoid Quality
Stainless was attacked at 41°F (5°C), while Chrome Core 18-FM Solenoid Quality
Stainless typically withstood attack up to 77°F (25°C)
The Chrome Core 18-FM alloy can be considered for service in corrosive
aqueous environments and mild chemicals, especially when chlorides are present
to attack the crevices inherent in solenoid valves. Potential applications
include parts and components for the appliance industry, steam irons and taps
for soda and beer.
Chrome Core 29 Solenoid Quality Stainless, newest in the family of
Chrome Core family of alloys, is a premium grade that may be considered for use
in corrosive, high purity environments such as those encountered in the
semiconductor manufacturing industry and other corrosive aqueous environments.
This alloy, containing about 29% chromium, is a soft magnetic ferritic grade
that offers superior corrosion resistance while satisfying the need for a
metallurgically clean material suitable for electroplating. It provides
significantly better corrosion resistance than any other material in Carpenter’s
family of solenoid-quality alloys. Its corrosion resistance is greater than that
of Type 316L stainless steel.
Chrome Core 29 Solenoid Quality Stainless has magnetic properties that are
similar to those of Type 430FR Solenoid Quality Stainless, but with
considerably better corrosion resistance. In tests governed by ASTM G150
procedure, Chrome Core 29 Solenoid Quality Stainless exhibited a critical
pitting temperature of 14.8°C, compared with Type 430FR Solenoid Quality
Stainless which started to pit at 5°C.
The chemical analysis of Chrome Core 29 Solenoid Quality Stainless is
balanced to provide resistivity similar to that of Type 430FR Solenoid Quality
Stainless. High resistivity is advantageous in applications involving excitation
because it tends to suppress eddy current losses.
Soft magnetic ferritic stainless steels have been used for a wide variety of
critical control devices and systems. In general, candidate alloys have magnetic
properties that can be matched cost effectively to job requirements. Some
free-machining variations of these alloys are available to minimize fabrication
Current trends indicate a growing need for alloys which have provided good
magnetic performance, but which also must offer improved resistance to corrosive
fuels, road salt, aqueous media, chlorides, mild chemicals and other challenging
Since no single alloy can provide the very best in soft magnetic properties,
corrosion resistance and fabricability at any cost, tradeoffs are necessary to
formulate alloys with the best, affordable combination of properties for any
given application. The nature of those tradeoffs can be determined more
successfully if the alloy user, searching for the right material, will work
closely with the material supplier. That’s because soft magnetic alloys
typically have to be specially processed. Their critical properties can be
affected greatly by how the alloy is melted, hot and cold worked and annealed.
Therefore, success in obtaining the optimum combination of properties may depend
on producer knowledge of the user’s specialized requirements.
For additional information about these and other Carpenter alloys, you can
access the company’s technical database at www.cartech.com or call 1-800-527-6900.
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Syrian activists say the government has arrested dozens of people and deployed tanks around cities in central Syria in a widening crackdown on opposition protesters.
The activists say Syrian security forces detained residents of the coastal city of Banias and nearby villages on Thursday.
Banias is one of several Syrian cities where opponents of President Bashar al-Assad had been rallying in recent weeks for democratic reforms and an end to his 11-year autocratic rule. The protests began in southern Syria in mid-March and spread nationwide.
Rights groups say Syrian authorities also arrested prominent rights campaigner Najati Tayara in Homs, a day after he reported that Syrian troops were firing on residential areas of Syria's third-largest city.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday accused the Syrian government of engaging in "unlawful detention, torture and denial of medical care" to wounded people. She said some people may see such behavior as a sign of strength, but Washington believes that treating one's own people in that way is a sign of remarkable weakness.
Speaking on a visit to Greenland, Clinton also criticized Syria's alliance with Iran, saying that "relying on Iran as your best friend and only strategic ally is not a viable way forward."
Syria has faced strong criticism from Western powers for its violent suppression of the opposition movement, but the reaction from other nations has been muted.
China's foreign ministry said Thursday the international community "should not interfere in Syria's internal affairs" and "avoid complicating the situation."
In other developments, rights groups say Syrian tanks deployed Thursday around the central city of Hama. The late President Hafez al-Assad, father of the current president, shelled the city in 1982 to suppress a Sunni uprising. Rights groups say at least 10,000 people were killed .
Syria's opposition is calling for more protests Friday, the traditional Muslim day of prayer. Syrian rights activists say the number of people killed across the country in the anti-government uprising ranges from 600 to 700.
There is no independent confirmation of casualty figures because Syria has banned most international journalists from the country.
In an apparent gesture to the opposition, Syria's state news agency said Thursday Prime Minister Adel Safar has introduced a new program to employ 10,000 university graduates annually at government institutions.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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and discuss them on our Facebook page.
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INSIDE BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
Senior excels at dance as well as engineering
“Two parts of me are always pulling in opposite directions,” said the fifth-year senior from Bellport, Long Island.
Make no mistake, though, Gundlach excels at both sides of her life. She has performed in numerous campus shows, often serving as dance captain, and last year helped to create The Collaborative Dance Project. The small dance company staged a show featuring 10 pieces choreographed by its members. (Gundlachs was called This Is Why I’m Failing Physics, a joke since she really earned an A-minus.)
Gundlach, 22, is treasurer of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, as well as president of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). She attended Binghamton University tuition free for four years through the Binghamton Scholars program and is devoting a fifth year to complete her major in mechanical engineering. “She has single handedly brought compassion and the goal of social justice into SWE,” said George Catalano, a professor of mechanical engineering who is also director of the scholars program.
Gundlach had a summer job studying bulletproof vests at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the research arm of the Commerce Department. She tested the tensile properties of individual fibers of Zylon, a material used in the vests. “I was doing engineering,” she said, “and I could see a very practical use for it.”
This year, she and a friend plan to do a senior project involving the creation of a portable biodiesel processor.
“The mere existence of our culture should not degrade the environment,” said Gundlach, an environmentalist with an interest in sustainability. “We need to work along with the laws of nature, and not just muscle through them.”
Gundlach plans to move to New York City after graduation. She hopes to try her luck as a dancer while applying to graduate school for engineering.
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Is the frantic pace of change affecting our ability to master our professions? We earn our stripes in college, enter the working world, build a career with decades of experience, master a craft like Michelangelo, and then, wham! The hinges are blown off our careers by a ceaseless torrent of new technology. Constant transformation is preventing us from becoming proficient masters. We’re always starting over, and always learning and relearning. Skills and knowledge that used to endure for decades are now defunct in less than three years.
An unfortunate consequence of this onslaught of technology is the morphing of journalism from an art to a science. Technology is dictating how content is written, and influencing the quality and depth of research and investigative reporting.
Recently, The Online Journalism Review (ojr.org) published a story headlined, “10 Reasons Why Online Journalists Are Better Journalists (In Theory).” Point number six read, “We’re better writers — SEO will not allow us to write vague headlines or use bad puns, and the attention span of our audience is about three blinks, so we have to practice all of George Orwell’s 5 Rules for Effective Writing at once.” Algorithms, analytics, and technology are sucking the human element out of our lives, and forcing writers to redefine traditional journalism techniques. The New York Times’ 1969 headline, “MEN WALK ON MOON,” would appear today as, “United States Astronaut Neil Armstrong is first person to set foot upon the moon.” Better? No. Boring? Yes.
Another troubling sign of how technology is mutating journalism was revealed recently when Yale University asked its journalism students to write a one-page paper on how they thought Watergate would be covered in today’s world. Essentially, the students concluded that they would simply Google “Nixon’s secret fund” and the conspiracy would appear on screen. Good journalism is a human skill, requiring human intuition and human relationships — traditional door knocking and face-to-face reporting by Woodward and Bernstein are what led to Nixon’s resignation, not technology or the genius of a software engineer.
2012 marks E&P’s 128th anniversary, and we’re celebrating this milestone with a publication redesign. Thanks to the design skills of art director Robert Martin, along with insight and assistance from managing editor Kristina Ackermann and associate editor Nu Yang, this issue of E&P reflects a fresh new look. The cover format now allows for a full bleed and multi-color flexibility in the logo. The contents page is better organized, easier to read, and the data page has been expanded from a single page to a double truck with additional charts and bolder graphics. These are just three of the many changes you’ll find inside. While we haven’t radically altered our content or rearranged the placement of editorial, we hope that you’ll find the redesign cleaner, livelier, and more contemporary.
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Name: Lisa Peterson
Is there such an occupation as a dolphinologist? If so what education is required
and what opportunities are open?
There are certainly scientist who study dolphins. As an area of specialty,
one would probably study marine mammals in general, including whales. Career
opportunities would include doing basic research on the animals: their physiology,
behavior, or ecology. This would be done most likely as a researcher at a university
marine station in association with the teaching of undergraduate and graduate
students. Just like any basic scientist. You might also work caring for animals
in a marine park or zoo, or for the government studying marine life and its ecology.
The navy apparently also does dolphin research. To do basic research as a scientist
at a university you would normally need a BS degree in biology or zoology, and a
Ph.D. in the same field. For some of the other careers, just the BS degree, or in
some cases also a master's degree is what's needed. If you're interested, go for it!
Be aware that your interests may change once you start studying these subjects
seriously, so be prepared not to specialize to much too soon. For a while, stick
to zoology in general, then move to mammals, then to marine mammals.
Click here to return to the Biology Archives
Update: June 2012
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| 2.578125
| 3
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One of the reasons that this piece interested me is that I was there (at TED conference in Arusha, in June 2007) when Bono and Andrew Mwenda went mano-a-mano. The author exaggerate the notion that Bono's used profane language. He simply strongly argued his case against Mwenda's misrepresentation. When Mwenda went on stage, he trashed the idea of aid and challenged the audience to name one country - just one - that has benefited from foreign aid. Bono, in the audience, raised his hand and said "my country, Ireland". And explained how the European Union assisted Ireland to transform its economy from that making potato chips to making computer chips. Then, Mwenda said "alright, alright, may be there is only Ireland, and that it is". Bono stood up again and said "Germany". And explained how the Marshall Plan (which was a foreign aid program), transformed Germany's economy. Then Mwenda got confused.
Anyway, the article below, which reviews a book by Dambisa Moyo, can be a source of a good debate on the role of aid in our countries. I have not read the book myself but I have questions about the thesis (that aid is a source of Africa's problem, and the way to cure our problems is to stop aid). Anyway, enjoy the article! January
Daily Mail, UK 10/03/2009
NOT SUCH COMIC RELIEF?
By Christopher Hart.
Red Nose Day is one of the high spots of the TV year, with our best-loved stars raising millions for charity. But a provocative new book by a black academic argues the billions Africa receives in aid are the very reason it’s trapped in poverty.
WE ARE accustomed to bizarre outbursts and posturings from multimillionaire celebrities, especially when they spot a chance to portray themselves as concerned philanthropists with almost painfully big hearts.
Their favourite method is to drop in for a few hours at some televised charity event — Comic Relief, Live8 and Live Earth.
Perhaps the best-known, and certainly the loudest among them, is U2’s Bono. His efforts have won him an honorary British knighthood, no fewer than three Nobel Prize nominations and the adulation of Tony Blair. Yet one of Bono’s most significant outbursts — rude, heckling and laden with expletives — took place away from the world’s TV cameras at a small conference it Tanzania recently.
Bono had been enraged by a Ugandan writer called Andrew Mwenda, who was presenting a powerful case that international aid, far from helping lift Africa out of poverty, might in fact be the very cause of its troubles.
Even the suggestion that this might be the case sent ‘ Saint’ Bono into a foul-mouthed rant, accusing Mwenda of being a comedian rather than a seriby ous contributor to political debate.
For his own sake, then, one can only hope that the pop star never comes face to face with the author of an incendiary new book. Called Dead Aid, its very title is a bitter mockery of that great institution and celebrity bandwagon, Live Aid.
But what it contains — particularly at a time when people are generously giving time, money and enthusiasm to this week’s Comic Relief fundraising events — is even more provocative. It argues that for 50 years the West has been giving aid to Africa — and in so doing has ruined the continent it professes to help. The author of Dead Aid is no lightweight courting controversy for its own sake. She is a highly qualified economist. More importantly, she is herself African — and what she has to say is as unsettling as it is important.
After years of listening to Western ‘experts’ such as Bono, Bob Geldof or Angelina Jolie pontificating about what Africa needs, here is a refreshing voice from Africa itself.
Dambisa Moyo was born in Zambia, where her family still live. She has a doctorate in economics from Oxford, a masters from Harvard, and for several years worked for the World Bank in Washington DC.
She is now head of research and strategy for sub-Saharan Africa at a leading investment bank. But here, you feel, is one banker who is still worth listening to, not least as she has witnessed the way her home country has become blighted by poverty. At independence in 1964, Zambia was a fresh, optimistic young nation, eager to embrace the future. Its GDP was around a quarter of the UK’s.
Today it is one-26th, and the country is mired in corruption, poverty and disease. So what went wrong?
One by one, Moyo examines the usual lame excuses for African backwardness, and dispatches them with ruthless efficiency. Africa has a harsh, intractable climate, with huge natural barriers such as jungle and desert? Well, so does Brazil, or Australia.
Many African countries are landlocked, always an obstacle to economic growth? That hasn’t done Switzerland or Austria much harm.
African countries are too ethnically and tribally diverse? So is India, and its economy is booming.
Africa lacks democracy? So China, Thailand and Indonesia, Asian tiger economies.
As for any lingering mutterings about Africans simply not being up to it, or inherently lazy, she doesn’t even consider them. She herself is eloquent proof of the idiocy of such Victorianera racism. No, the problem can be summed up in one short word — aid.
Aid isn’t Africa’s cure, she believes. It’s the disease.
Let’s be clear, though, Moyo is scrupulously fair about distinguishing between three different types of aid. There is emergency relief for famine, which many of us support through donations or charitable fundraisers, which is not only well-meaning but absolutely necessary at times of international crisis.
Then there is the everyday work of the charities themselves, about which she appears neutral, although she quotes one cutting comment from a senior economist: ‘ They know it’s c**p, but it sells the T-shirts.’
This year, it is Stella McCartney’s Comic Relief T-shirts — featuring images of The Beatles and of Morecambe and Wise — that have become the must-have accessory of those who like to wear their conscience on their sleeve.
DESPITE the cynics, it is worth remembering that since its creation in the mid-Eighties, Comic Relief has generated £600 million — roughly two-thirds of which has gone to fund charities working on the ground in Africa (the other third goes towards charities in the UK).
That is an awesome achievement that has made a genuine difference towards alleviating suffering on a local scale in some of the most deprived nations on Earth. No one should belittle that work.
But charities are ‘small beer’ compared to what Moyo perceives to be Africa’s real problem: the billions of pounds’ worth of aid poured into the continent by Western governments.
Consider the figures. In the past 50 years, the West has pumped around £ 35 trillion into Africa. But far from improving the lives of ordinary Africans, the result of stateadministered charity on such a colossal scale has, argues Moyo, been ‘an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster’.
The effects are easy to see, yet always ignored. Over the past 30 years, the economies of the most aiddependent countries have shrunk by 0.2 per cent per annum.
Yes, in the UK we have been in recession for six months or so now, but countries like Malawi and Burkina Faso have been in recession for three decades. How is this disaster related to thoughtless Western aid? Directly. And Moyo cites a brilliant example of how the whole concept is flawed.
Imagine there’s an African mosquito-net maker who manufactures 500 nets a week. He employs ten people, and this being Africa, each of those employees supports as many as 15 relatives on his modest but steady salary. Some 150 people therefore depend on this thriving little cottage industry, producing a much-needed, low-cost commodity for local people.
Then, Moyo writes: ‘Enter vociferous Hollywood movie star who rallies the masses and goads Western governments to collect and send 100,000 mosquito nets to the afflicted region, at a cost of a million dollars. The nets arrive and a “good” deed is done.’
The result? The local business promptly goes bust. Why buy one when they’re handing them out for free? Ten more people are unemployed, and 150 people are without means of support.
Like all such aid hand-outs, it’s an idiotically short-sighted way to treat a complex problem.
And that’s not all. In a year or so, those nets will have sustained wear and tear, and will need either mending or replacing. But the local net-maker is no longer around.
So now those previously independent and self-sufficient Africans have to go begging the West for more aid. Intervention has actually destroyed a small part of Africa’s economy, as well as its spirit of enterprise. Thus aid reduces its recipients to beggary in two easy moves.
Yet despite this ongoing disaster, we still have the celebrity harangues, the self-applauding rock concerts, ‘making poverty history’ from the comfort of your private jet.
At some point in the Eighties, as Dambisa Moyo observes, ‘Public discourse became a public disco’, reaching its eventual nadir, perhaps, with Madonna addressing her audience at Live Earth as ‘motherf***** s’ and declaring: ‘If you wanna save the planet, jump up and down!’
Moyo is blisteringly critical about the ‘Western, liberal, guilt-tripped morality’ that lies behind these jamborees, about the tax-avoiding Bono lecturing us all on poverty and advising world leaders at summits, and Blair’s craven admiration for him.
Ordinary Africans do not, on the whole, have much admiration for Western pop culture at its noisiest and most foul-mouthed.
So what do they make of the bizarre spectacle of some ill-qualified Western pop star moralising with such supreme arrogance on ‘what Africa really needs’? Africans themselves have ideas about what they really need, if only someone would listen. But as one such African comments: ‘My voice can’t compete with an electric guitar.’
Another effect of aid, well known in the West and yet consistently and shamefully ignored, is that it props up the most thuggish and kleptomaniac of Africa’s leaders.
That parade of grotesques who have filled our TV screens almost since independence, it seems — Idi Amin in Uganda, Mobutu in Zaire, Mengistu in Ethiopia, the ‘ Emperor’ Bokassa in the Central African Republic — were always the greatest beneficiaries.
Bokassa spent a third of his country’s annual income on his own preposterous ‘coronation.’ The genocidal Mengistu benefited hugely, it is said, from the proceeds of Live Aid.
TODAY we have Mr Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace, 40 years his junior, going on £ 75,000-a-time shopping trips to Europe or the Far East, while her people starve, inflation runs at 230 million per cent, and Zimbabwe’s Central Bank issues $100 trillion banknotes.
Such tales echo Mobutu’s reign of terror in Zaire. He once asked the West for a reduction of his country’s colossal debt. The West, feeling guilty, promptly granted it.
Mobutu’s response? He hired Concorde to fly his daughter to her wedding on the Ivory Coast. In all, Mobutu may have looted £ 3.5billion from his country’s coffers. Nigeria’s President Sani Abacha stole about the same.
Even the World Bank itself reckons that 85 per cent of aid never gets to where it’s meant to. ‘When the World Bank thinks its financing an electric power station,’ says one jaundiced commentator whom Moyo quotes, ‘it’s really financing a brothel.’
So the aid industry causes poverty, corruption and war. Yet it continues. Why? Could aid just be something the West indulge in to buy itself an easy conscience — regardless of what effect it has on Africa?
Whatever the case, we should turn the taps off immediately, says Moyo.
Would this mean the end to the building of new roads, schools, hospitals? No. They’re mainly built by investment, not aid.
Would it be the end to many a kleptomaniac despot? Most certainly. But would millions would die of hunger within weeks? Of course not.
The aid we send doesn’t reach them anyway. Life for them would in the short term be no different, but in the longer term immeasurably better.
What makes Dead Aid so powerful is that it’s a double-barrelled shotgun of a book. With the first barrel, Moyo demolishes all the most cherished myths about aid being a good thing. But with the second, crucially, she goes on to explain what the West could be doing instead.
We all share the well-meaning belief that ‘the rich should help the poor, and the form of this help should be aid’. The first part of this is plain morality. But the second part, as she so forcefully demonstrates, is false — lethally false.
We shouldn’t be giving aid to Africa. That’s not what Africa wants. We should be trading with it, and idle chatter of ‘economic imperialism’ be damned. She has no time for such Left-liberal pieties. Of course we should be using Africa’s vast pool of cheap labour to make our clothes, assemble our cars, grow our foodstuffs. In fact, one country already is — it’s called China.
China is building roads in Ethiopia, pipelines in Sudan, railways in Nigeria. It’s buying iron ore and platinum from South Africa, timber from Gabon and Cameroon, oil from Angola and Equatorial Guinea. China is pouring vast sums of capital investment into the continent, enriching both itself and Africa in the process.
Dambisa Moyo is not much bothered by Western concerns that China does nothing to further democracy in Africa. An villager with six children doesn’t lose sleep over not having the vote, she loses sleep over what she will feed her children tomorrow.
Address poverty first, says Moyo, and democracy later.
The greatest example for Africa today, she believes, could be the Grameen Bank, which means, ‘The Bank Of The Village’, in Bangladesh. Moyo hopes that, in time, the nations of Africa can develop such a bank for themselves. For it is an extraordinary and heart-warming success story.
It was devised by Muhammad Yunus, who quite rightly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts. Yunus’s inspiration was to ask: ‘Where lies the wealth of the typical Bangladeshi village?’
A village may not have money, goods or assets. Yet it is a wonderfully tightknit, loyal little community, where nobody locks their doors at night, nobody steals, everyone knows each other. This is a tremendous kind of wealth — but how to translate it into money for these impoverished, decent, hard-working people?
YUNUS realised you could lend money to such a community and be sure of getting it back if you worked according to a plan — a plan with the simplicity of genius. You lend not to an individual but to a group, but only one member at a time. So you might lend one woman £20 (and an amazing 97 per cent of the Grameen Bank’s customers are women. That’s enough for her to buy a new sewing machine, and so start a thriving little tailoring business.
A year later, she repays the amount, with interest. At which point, the original £20 is passed on to the next person in the group.
But if she doesn’t repay the loan — and here Yunus saw how to turn the village’s ‘social capital’, its trustworthiness and deep-rooted sense of community, into economic value — then the next person in the group, quite possibly her next-door neighbour, her sister or cousin, doesn’t get it either.
The result? This humbly named Bank Of The Village now has 2.3 million customers, and a portfolio worth a colossal £170 million— in one of the poorest countries on Earth.
There is something deeply moving about it, especially when you learn that the reliability of the Grameen Bank’s customers has proved to be virtually 100 per cent.
No greater contrast between our own inept but limitlessly greedy banks and Bangladesh’s Bank Of The Village could be imagined.
The failed fat-cat Cityboy still awards himself a £500,000 bonus for his own incompetence, while these trustworthy women care for every single cent of their precious £20 loan.
More than that, though, it is a humbling example of the way that trade — not aid — can help Africa lift itself out of poverty. Certainly, there is still much that we can do to help Africa help itself. We should act, and fast. But pouring billions more in aid won’t change a thing.
Moyo concludes her book with a wise old African proverb. ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.’
By all means give to Comic Relief when the fun gets under way this Friday. It is a worthwhile humanitarian cause that makes a real difference to people in desperate circumstances. But as for a long-term solution to Africa’s immense problems — that may require a new way of thinking.
DEAD AID by Dambisa Moyo(Allen Lane, £14.99). To order a copy (p&p free), call 0845 155 0720
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how to conduct with EC3, the first multimedia resource for conducting.
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Alternatives to ILS gaining momentum
Is ILS, aviation’s trusted friend for the past half century, now seeing its last days? Probably not. Some observers believe it has many years of life ahead of it, yet newer technologies are slowly entering the scene, in such diverse settings as Norway’s fjords, Heathrow’s jam-packed runways, the icy wastes of Antarctica and at several major U.S. hubs. In these locations, the newcomers provide unique benefits that ILS either cannot provide, or provides at much higher cost.
In Norway, regional airline Wideroe, an SAS subsidiary, flies its Dash 8s into some pretty challenging locations, such as the coastal fjords along the country’s rugged coast. Weather can be bad, landing minimums have been high, and yet the many small communities depend on regular air service. Following the 1988 loss of a company Dash 7 with all on board after a beacon step-down approach into the small airstrip at Bronnoysund, 500 miles north of Oslo, Avinor, Norway’s air navigation service provider, sought a safer approach solution.
Signal reflections off the high ground surrounding the fjord prevented the use of ILS, but GPS could work there, provided local accuracy corrections were datalinked to approaching aircraft–the principle behind the FAA’s LAAS. Norway’s Park Air, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, had many years ago developed a predecessor to LAAS, called SCAT-1 (for Special Category I), which–after lengthy evaluation and testing–was approved by Avinor and the European Aviation Safety Agency. The first installation was certified at Bronnoysund earlier this year. Regular service by Wideroe started in late November.
Over the next three years, Avinor plans to install 25 SCAT-1 systems across Norway, at remote airfields with difficult approaches. Initially, Wideroe’s Dash 8s, equipped with dual Universal Avionics GLS-1250 receivers, are limited to 400-foot decision heights (DHs) on Bronnoysund’s 3.8-degree glideslope, but that number is expected to be lowered as operators gain experience.
At London Heathrow, microwave landing systems (MLS) are beginning to infringe on ILS’s turf. By the middle of this year, British Airways MLS-equipped Airbus A320s and A321s are expected to be flying Category IIIB autolands, with DHs of 50 feet or lower, to the airport’s parallel 09/27 runways, each of which have a Thales Category III MLS at either end. Here, British Airways will be stealing a march on its competitors. At Heathrow, aircraft are prohibited from taking off or landing until two minutes after a departing aircraft has flown past the ILS transmitter at the far end of the runway, due to the risk of lingering disturbances in the ILS localizer signals.
But by using MLS, British Airways Airbuses, equipped with Thales multimode ILS/MLS receivers, are immune to this problem and can use one-minute spacing, which is expected to yield at least six extra departures per hour. At Heathrow, which routinely operates at 98-percent capacity, this represents a strong operational benefit, which other airlines are reportedly eying enviously. Other U.S. and overseas carriers might follow suit, since Eurocontrol’s long-range plan is to supplement and eventually replace its Category III ILS with MLS.
Category III LAAS, once considered to be the replacement for Category III ILS, is now considered to be only a distant possibility, although Honeywell aims to have its Category I LAAS certified for private operation late this year. But Category III LAAS remains in developmental limbo and might, according to some industry observers, be shelved.
At the McMurdo, Antarctica research station Category I MLS is providing landing guidance to USAF C-130s on re-supply missions, as well as a locally based Basler turboprop DC-3 and several smaller twins that provide transportation for scientific expeditions on the ice cap. The U.S. National Science Foundation operates three MLS units at various locations, with another two or three installations planned.
Built by the Communication Division of the former Bendix, now part of Honeywell, 12 of the Category I systems were made in the late 1980s and installed at small airports in Alaska and northern Washington as operational evaluation precursors to the FAA’s plan to install MLS nationwide. But user acceptance was slow and, with the agency’s subsequent change of direction in 1995 in favor of NAS-wide GPS LAAS, they were gradually de-commissioned and warehoused.
Reportedly, their reinstatement in Antarctica came about because a large number of USAF C-130s, the type that provides the major re-supply link to the research station, are still equipped with MLS receivers, a legacy from the FAA’s earlier commitment to the system. By the time the FAA switched to LAAS, the USAF had purchased some 150 small, helicopter-transportable, tactical MLS stations and had equipped its tactical C-130 fleet with MLS receivers. The USAF has since deployed its small MLS units in Iraq and elsewhere, although those systems were found to be less successful when tested earlier at McMurdo.
But the commercial MLS serving McMurdo’s ice strip is also unusual, being on the seven-foot-thick frozen surface of a sea inlet that becomes a ship channel during the Antarctic summer. However, the strip is much closer to the base station than McMurdo’s main airstrip, located more than an hour’s drive away. As summer approaches, the sled-mounted MLS station is towed off the sea ice and stored until winter returns. When it is reinstalled on the ice for the following winter, an FAA Flight Inspection Challenger checks it before it can be used by the USAF and civil aircraft.
Competition from FAA Programs
Another threat to ILS’s longevity is the FAA’s WAAS. While widely regarded as simply a means of providing accuracy enhancement to GPS, developments in WAAS signal processing have sharpened its capabilities significantly, to the extent of supporting GPS 200-foot DH, Category I equivalent approach standards.
Before the middle of last year, GPS localizer precision with vertical guidance (LPV) approach procedures never went below 250-foot DHs. Now, 12 WAAS procedures have been published with DHs down to 200 feet, and the FAA’s Oklahoma City charting facility is reviewing the more than 950 earlier LPV procedures for their upgrade potential for lower limits. Eventually these could, and probably will, exceed the 1093 FAA ILS Category procedures.
The great benefit of WAAS is its lack of expensive ground equipment and therefore its nationwide availability that, theoretically, could provide precision guidance down to every relatively obstruction-free landing strip across the nation. It isn’t that simple, of course, because there are other safety considerations, such as lighting, runway markings and the contentious current requirement to have a taxiway parallel to the runway under instrument approach conditions. However, this rule is now under review, and is likely to be amended on a case-by-case basis, although it is expected to remain a requirement at non-tower airports where unmonitored back tracking down the runway is a necessity after landing.
Nevertheless, in the FAA’s unofficial view, WAAS represents a viable alternative to Category I ILS and could conceivably replace it over the years ahead, leaving ILS to handle the Category II and Category III needs of the major operators where there no longer appears to be any FAA interest in the GPS LAAS solution.
The transition from Category I ILS to WAAS certainly won’t happen overnight but, with the reported population of more than 30,000 WAAS-equipped general aviation aircraft today, combined with the near certainty that all future GPS receivers will include WAAS, coupled with the steady release of WAAS LPV procedures, the economic pressure on the FAA to gradually decommission ILS is certain to increase, just as it did for the NDBs the agency is decommissioning today.
So the clock is ticking for ILS. When will its time be up? Certainly not for many years, if only for the fact that, apart from MLS, there is no replacement in sight for the Category II and III requirement. This raises an interesting question: as the airlines in Europe move to an MLS environment and U.S. overseas operators fit multimode receivers to stay competitive, will the FAA dust off its original plan for NAS-wide MLS?
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|Caring for Opals
Opals are among the most delicate gemstones commonly worn, and require some special care. With a little knowledge and some common sense, your opal will stay in beautiful condition for many years to come.
There are two main reasons why opals are regarded as delicate. One reason is that they are a relatively soft gem (between 5.5 and 6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale), so they can be easily scratched, even by common household dust. Another reason is that they they have significant water content -- typically about 5 to 6%. If an opal is kept in a very low humidity environment, it can dry out and crack. Due to their water content, opals are also sensitive to sudden changes in temperature.
Some opals have an additional vulnerability. Opal doublets and triplets consist of a layer of precious opal glued to a black backing. Because the layers are glued together, prolonged exposure to water can weaken the glue and allow water to infiltrate. The opal may then take on a gray or foggy appearance. Solid opals are not vulnerable to this problem.
Solid opal should be cleaned gently with mild detergent in warm water with a soft brush or cloth. Bleach, chemicals and cleaners should always be avoided. Doublets and triplets may be wiped with a damp soft cloth and mild detergent, but should never be soaked or immersed.
Opal Doublet from Australia
Opals should never be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner. The intense vibrations created may cause cracking in a solid opal, and water penetration in a doublet or triplet.
If you need to store your opal for a long period, it is a good idea to keep it sealed a plastic bag with a damp piece of cotton to prevent dehydration.
The best way to avoid damage to an opal is preventative care. Opals are best suited for earrings, brooches, and pendants, since these types of jewelry are less exposed to harder objects. If you absolutely must have an opal ring, choose a protective setting like a bezel. If you wear an opal ring on a daily basis, it will need be be repolished from time to time to maintain its luster.
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SCHENECTADY — It was 25 minutes before lunch would be served Monday, and kids as young as two years old lined up outside the Yates Village Community Center.
They were waiting for the white truck from Schenectady Inner City Ministry that delivers free apples, turkey sandwiches and potato chips every weekday when school is out for summer.
When the truck arrived at the center, located in a municipal housing complex, a collective "Yay!" erupted from the crowd of 20 boys and girls.
"Can we help?" 8-year-old Curtis King asked volunteer Bob Miller as the General Electric Co. employee hoisted a cardboard box of food through the community center's doorway. Monday was the first day of SICM's summer lunch program, a federally funded endeavor that has blossomed from volunteers making food at two locations in 1996 to having a vendor deliver food to 16 sites around the city.
For the first time this summer, SICM will also provide kids lunches at the Schenectady Public Library downtown and at the Front Street pool in the Stockade neighborhood. At some locations, lunches are also now served for 10 weeks, up from six weeks when the program began.
Summer lunch programs, which are replicated by other government and nonprofit entities in low-income areas throughout the Capital Region, is a way to fill bellies that are normally taken care of in school cafeterias.
"We found we just couldn't meet the need that's out there," said Crys Hamelink, SICM's assistant director, noting that 70 percent of those served also receive free or reduced lunches through the Schenectady city school district.
Orchestrating the serving of 970 meals throughout the summer begins in March when SICM staff must start scheduling 700 volunteers, many of them from 35 participating congregations.
SICM is reimbursed about $100,000 through the state Department of Education to purchase the food from JR Proprietors on Albany Street. The items are packed separately, hot chicken patties in one container, bags of carrots in another, and the volunteers put the sandwiches and snacks together a few minutes before lunch is served. High school and college interns, who are paid through their home congregations, help as well.
"It makes me feel good that we come in and know they get something to eat," said Teresa Zielinkski, one of Yates' three volunteers who are information technology employees from GE and part of a group of workers who now donate their time yearly.
The program's largest sites are at Central Park and Jerry Burrell Park, where up to 200 kids show up for the meals daily rain or shine.
Allison Williams, the program's manager, monitors the lunch count at each site, along with the next day's forecast, to judge how much food to order. She is constantly on her cellphone, running between sites fixing problems, which can include parents trying to take home extra lunches or not having enough cheese on the pizzas.
"It's very rewarding at the end of the day," Williams said. However, "there are some days when you say — 'What do you mean you don't have enough bananas?'"
There are federal rules that must be adhered to — starting with the fact that most of a child's lunch must be eaten on site. The government cannot guarantee that a turkey sandwich with mayonnaise will be properly kept if it goes home, and there are concerns that an adult would eat the children's food.
On Monday, a few parents bristled at the rule at Yates Community Center, where one mother said aloud, "That kills me. How are you handing out food and making people throw it away?"
But 18-year-old intern Anna Mattis, whose mom is one of the program's organizers, said it's usually hardest on the first day, when not everyone knows the rules.
Yates Village resident Tymel Caston brought his 2- and 4-year-old daughters for the first time Monday, a job their mom usually does.
"It's a good place for the kids to come in the summer, have a nice meal and relax and be with other kids," Caston said.
firstname.lastname@example.org • 518-454-5697
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Underscoring the Obama Administration’s commitments to keep college affordable for American families and students and support the next generation of energy leaders, the U.S. Energy Department today announced the regional winners of its National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. The initiative inspires university teams across the country to create new businesses and commercialize promising energy technologies developed at U.S. universities and the National Laboratories. Today’s regional finalists – Northwestern University, University of Utah, University of Central Florida, MIT, Stanford University and Columbia University – will go on to compete in the first national competition in Washington, D.C. this June.
“By promoting entrepreneurship at America’s universities, the National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition is engaging the country’s best and brightest students around the important energy challenges of the 21st century,” said Energy Secretary Chu. “The winning teams have developed effective strategies for bringing innovative technologies into the market that will help keep America competitive in the global race for clean energy technologies.”
The competition aims to promote entrepreneurship in clean energy technologies that will boost American competitiveness, bring cutting-edge clean energy solutions to the market, and strengthen our economic prosperity. Each team of students identified a promising clean energy technology from a university or national lab and created a business plan around the technology that detailed how they could help bring it to market. This includes financing, product design, scaling up production and marketing.
Each of the six regional competitions across the country was run by a nonprofit or university, who worked with teams over the last three years. Each of the winning regional teams has already received $100,000 in prizes to continue plans to commercialize the products. The regional winners recognized today will compete in the inaugural National Competition on June 12-13 in Washington, D.C. At the national competition, regional finalists will compete for sponsor prizes and unique technical, design and legal assistance. Organizations providing assistance include: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), law firm Mintz Levin, the Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), Battelle Ventures, and The Cleantech Open.
The six winning finalists that will compete in the national competition are:
- Eastern Midwest Region (run by Clean Energy Trust – Chicago, Illinois)
Northwestern University – NuMat Technologies: NuMat Technologies invented a nanomaterial that stores gases at lower pressure, reducing infrastructure costs and increasing design flexibility. One potential application for this innovation is in designing tanks to store natural gas more efficiently in motor vehicles.
- Western Midwest Region (run by University of Colorado Cleantech New Venture Challenge – Boulder, Colorado)
University of Utah – Navillum Nanotechnologies: Navillum Nanotechnologies proposed expanding the commercial use of quantum dots. Quantum dots can emit a wider range of light using less energy than existing materials, and could be used in future generations of solar panels, televisions, cell phones, and related products.
- Southeast Region (run by University of Maryland – College Park, Maryland)
University of Central Florida – Medsi Systems: Mesdi Systems developed precise manufacturing modules that increase production capacities and reduce costs of lithium ion batteries used in vehicles, consumer electronics, and medical devices.
- Western Southwest Region (run by Rice University Business Plan Competition – Houston, Texas)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – SolidEnergy: SolidEnergy’s battery technology innovation, which improves the safety and energy density of rechargeable lithium batteries, is intended to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles.
- Western Region (run by California Institute of Technology – Pasadena, California)
Stanford University – Stanford Nitrogen Group: Stanford Nitrogen Group developed a biological wastewater treatment process that removes and recovers energy from waste nitrogen and recovers phosphorus.
- Northeast Region (run by Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Columbia University – Radiator Labs: Radiator Labs developed a low-cost, easily installed radiator retrofit that converts radiator heating systems into a highly controllable zoned system to significantly reduce the energy waste while increasing the heat distribution and consistency of building interiors.
These six regional winners will pitch their business plans before a panel of expert judges. The pitching, which is open to the public, is scheduled for Wednesday, June 13th in Washington, D.C. You can register to attend DOE's National Clean Energy Business Plan Pitches HERE.
The National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition is part of the Obama Administration’s Startup America initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. More information is available on the National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition website.
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.
News Media Contact: (202) 586-4940
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Watching the Matrix in Salvador, Brazil
The giant blender called Salvador has mashed, pureed and pulverized a million things over the last four centuries.
‘Capoeira’ is one of the most graceful concoctions it has whipped up.
One afternoon I drove down to the courtyard of the Museum of Modern Art in Salvador to watch a group of local Capoeira dancers.
Capoeira, A combination of martial arts, dance and music was apparently dreamed up by Angolan slaves brought to Brazil.
There are several conflicting theories about the exact origin of the art, but one thing is indisputable. If the human body could write poetry-this is riveting verse.
After almost two weeks in Brazil and I was puzzled by the contrasts that lie around every corner. As the dancers, bend, leap, twist and tumble in the air, I wrestled with my own observations.
Every one here tells first person stories of car-jackings, petty theft, kidnappings and murders. Stories that would lead you to think of Brazil as violent and cold. But it would be folly to think of Brazilians as violent.
Just like Capoeira, the lines between the violence and the dance are blurry.
One thing is clear. Brazil is a complex, layered and dense country and me attempting to deconstruct it, would be like attempting a double back flip Capoeira move.
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It’s known as one of the top ten public health achievements of the 20th century; a “classic example of clinical observation leading to epidemiological investigation and community-based public health intervention;” Remaining “the most equitable and cost-effective method of delivering [health benefits] to all members of most communities, regardless of age, educational attainment, or income level.”
It’s a service that has benefitted Calgarians for two decades, backed by peer reviewed research and conclusive scientific data demonstrating the undeniable role it plays in the field of preventive medicine.
Raise a glass to Community Water Fluoridation (CWF), that is, while you still can. Because Monday, City Council will vote on Ald. Druh Farrell’s regressive motion to scrap Calgary’s water fluoridation program.
Armed with unsubstantiated claims and assertions gleaned from sources such as the discredited Fluoride Action Network, (or perhaps from the uninformed, and poorly researched, editorial in the Calgary Herald), Farrell and other luddites on city council are on the verge of rescinding an effective program based entirely on conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Claim: It’s not cost effective / other sources of fluoride do a better job at protecting teeth.
Fact: Despite the increase exposure to other sources of fluoride, “particularly from fluoride-containing dentifrices,” water fluoridation “continues to be the most far-reaching preventive [dental health] measure, [offering] an unmatched return on investment – saving $38 in dental treatment costs for every dollar spent.”
The U.S. Surgeon general reports that savings provided by CWF are “a rare characteristic for community-based disease prevention strategies. The mean annual per capita cost of fluoridation systems serving populations greater than 50,000 is [a mere]$0.68.”
Claim: The overall downward trend in cavity rates is due factors such as better oral hygiene, not water fluoridation / It doesn’t benefit adults.
Fact: Children living in communities with water fluoridation experience an 18% cavity reduction compared to those in communities without access to fluoridated water. Adolescents and adults in communities with fluoridated water experience an average of 25.6% and 20-40% respectively, than their counterparts living in communities without access to fluoridated water.
The U.S. Surgeon General reports “other evidence of the benefits of fluoridation comes from studies of populations where fluoridation has ceased … In Wick, Scotland, which began water fluoridation in 1969 but stopped it in 1979, the [cavity] prevalence in 5- to 6-year-olds … increased by 27 percent between 1979 and 1984. This was despite a national decline in [cavities] and increased availability of fluoride-containing [dental products].”
Claim: Studies show the risks of fluoridation outweigh the benefits / there is growing credible research demonstrating the dangers of ingesting fluoride.
Fact: Research into the effects of fluoridated drinking water “predates the first community field trials. Since 1950, opponents of water fluoridation have claimed it increased the risk for cancer, Down syndrome, heart disease, osteoporosis and bone fracture, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, low intelligence, Alzheimer disease, allergic reactions, and other health conditions. The safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation [is regularly] re-evaluated, and no credible evidence supports an association between fluoridation and any of these conditions.”
Specifically, from a study done by Dr. David Locker, Community Dental Health Services Research Unit – Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto:
Regarding acute toxicity: “Fluoride is a poison in large doses but toxic levels cannot be achieved by drinking fluoridated water.”
Regarding bone health (osteoporosis; weak, brittle bones): “…the studies conducted to date do not provide systemic and compelling evidence of an adverse effect on bone.”
Regarding cancer: “… there is no reason to believe that exposure to fluoridated water increases rates of cancer either of bone or other body tissues.”
Regarding immune function: “…a review paper examined studies of fluoride and immune response … and found no support for the suggestion that fluoride affects immunity.”
Regarding mental development: “Recent studies emanating from China have claimed that children exposed to high levels of fluoride have lower IQ’s than children exposed to low levels. The two studies claiming such an effect are deeply flawed and provide no credible evidence that fluoride obtained from water or industrial pollution affects the intellectual development of children.”
The merits of water fluoridation are unmatched, and undeniable. Endorsed by Medical and Dental Associations worldwide, CWF is considered an investment in the future health and overall wellbeing of a given population.
Perhaps the most important, and overlooked, aspect of CWF is the extent to which it benefits the underprivileged members of society. As outlined in a 2009 report from the European Archives of Pediatric Dentistry, “water fluoridation is unmatched in its ability to reach all sectors of society, including those who are least likely to avail of other sources of fluoride or to access regular dental care … water fluoridation seems to reduce inequalities in children’s dental health across social classes in 5 and 12 year olds. Further research in this area has shown that water fluoridation benefits all social strata, and supports the finding that it may reduce inequalities in oral health, which is seen as one of fluoridation’s greatest strengths.”
Unlike the disadvantaged who have neither the money for, nor the access to, expensive dental procedures, those demanding ‘freedom’ and ‘choice’ are the very one who have the opportunity to exercise it.
If Calgarians are unsatisfied by the water provided by the city, they can opt to invest in a water filtration system, or chose to consume bottled water. It really is that simple.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi, a fellow fan of scientific research and hard evidence, has expressed his desire for input from the scientific community, medical experts, and the general public, regarding the future of Calgary’s water fluoridation program.
It’s my hope that the medical, dental, and scientific communities heed the Mayor’s call for expert, and informed, opinion. Whether City Council votes to end Calgary’s fluoridation program or not, it’s important that votes are based on accurate information and conclusive evidence.
Three months ago, Calgarians opted for progress and advancement when they elected Nenshi as mayor; let’s hope the 14 Aldermen chosen to represent the will of the people will continue to do just that, and keep the much beneficial water fluoridation program.
Cross-posted at rabble.ca
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Getting Gas: A Bloodsport
Few service stations are open, but those that are have lines that stretch into roadways and block intersections.
At the Exxon station at Route 70 and New Hampshire Avenue in Lakewood, gas station attendants frantically directed cars coming into the pump area.
They came from multiple directions as drivers made dangerous U-turns in the middle of long lines to point their vehicles' tank access door toward the hoses.
Meanwhile, two men got into a fender-bender at the station's entrance and were arguing as a police officer arrived to take a report.
Getting gas has become sort of a bloodsport at the Jersey Shore - and all over New Jersey - as people in Brick, Long Branch, Eatontown, Toms River and elsewhere are fighting to get a spot at any of the few stations that are open.
And, police say, they're also creating potential traffic hazards by stretching their lines into traffic, blocking intersections and causing traffic jams.
At the Costco Wholesale station in Brick Township, a line stretched down the state highway back to Shorrock Street as hundreds of vehicles waited to reach the pumps.
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority, meanwhile, is asking motorists to use extra caution as they travel on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. Long lines for fuel are stretching from the service area lots onto the roadways. At Garden State Parkway milepost 98, for example, traffic for the gas station was backed up two miles Wednesday afternoon.
The only storm-related disruptions are at the Grover Cleveland Service Area on the northbound Turnpike between Interchanges 11 and 12 in Woodbridge Township and at the Vaux Hall Service Area at milepost 145 on the northbound Garden State Parkway in Irvington.
The Grover Cleveland Service Area is completely closed because of flooding. The Vaux Hall Service Area remains open for rest rooms and water, but fuel and food services are not available because of power issues.
No fuel, however, is available at the Cheesequake Service Area at milepost 124 in Sayreville because of a maintenance project that was started on Oct. 1 and is scheduled to continue until Nov. 8. Food service and rest rooms remain available at Cheesequake.
On Tuesday night, the parking lot was pitch black as the rest area appeared to be running on generators. Inside, Natonal Guard members munched on cheeseburgers as they squeezed for seats within the big, packed crowd.
Outside, cars were slowly turning away from the dark pumps, going back to the Garden State Parkway with the hope there was somewhere else to go.
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Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology
A study and teaching resource for qualified practitioners and students on recognised courses, in medicine, nursing and allied health subjects, and related scientific/technical subjects.
The Wellcome Museum contains modern anatomical and pathological teaching collections, consisting of preserved wet and dry bone and tissue. The collections include more than 800 prosections demonstrating human anatomy and over 2000 specimens illustrating all the important branches of surgical pathology. These are displayed according to the regions of the body.
Due to the modern date of the specimens the Wellcome Museum is regulated by the Human Tissue Authority and is required to comply with the Human Tissue Act (2004). The Wellcome Museum is therefore not open to the public and is only open to qualified practitioners and students on recognised courses, in medicine, nursing and allied health subjects, and related scientific/technical subjects.
Some quotes from our visitors:
'The prosected specimens are invaluable in demonstrating anatomy, particularly in relation to surgery.'
A surgical trainee revising for IMRCS examinations
'Very interesting to actually see the things I've read about and learned for my exam! I could spend a week here - and not get bored! Great collection!'
A medical student
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How your workplace is designed can have a big impact on how things get done.
The importance of designing workplaces with both efficiency and an agency's mission in mind was driven home at a recent congressional hearing featuring, of all people, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Harley Lappin, who rose through the prison system's ranks to become director in 2003, explained how the bureau has grappled with the massive growth in the inmate population-from 26,000 prisoners in 1980 to 201,000 today-without a commensurate growth in the number of guards watching them. Ten years ago, the employee-to-inmate ratio was 1-to-3.57. Today, the ratio is 1-to-4.92. That means Lappin is responsible for more prisoners with a proportionately smaller workforce.
To get back to the higher employee ratio, Lappin says prisons would have to hire 9,000 more employees on top of the 35,000 already working for the bureau. Put bluntly, that ain't happening. The most he is hoping for in this current budget-limiting time for non-defense agencies is 1,200 additional employees. But Lappin said he doesn't need to get up to the 1997 ratio anyway. Why? Prisons are being designed more efficiently now than they were in the past, meaning fewer guards are needed to watch over the growing inmate population. For example, recreation yards at newer prisons are contained in courtyards surrounded by buildings, rather than on the perimeter near fences. That makes it a lot tougher for inmates to escape.
Similarly, federal prisons are looking to move away from guard towers to using "stun-lethal" electrified fences, which can be rigged to daze escapees the first time they touch them, and kill them the second time. That's a strong deterrent. "We went and assessed those locations [with towers], looked at the operations that occurred there for 15, 20 years and realized that they could provide the same level of security at those locations without manning the towers," Lappin told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies on March 12. "This is a technology advancement that we think has merit, that we think would continue to run safe and secure prisons, not jeopardize the community. So we are firmly behind the stun-lethal . . . because we think it's a more efficient way to operate the prisons."
Lappin pointed out that the towers are less useful now that exercise yards are in courtyards. There's no reason to have a guard tower with no view of the inmates on a prison's perimeter.
Facility design can be a life-and-death matter for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Lappin also noted at the hearing that the more crowded a prison is, the higher the rate of assaults by inmates on both other inmates and on prison employees. Right now, prisons are 20 percent more crowded than Lappin's target of housing two prisoners in a standard-size cell. One-third of federal prisons are more than 50 years old, so they are more expensive to maintain. In addition, they are not designed with some of the efficiencies of newer prisons that allow smaller guard-to-prisoner ratios. Asked by Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., whether it wouldn't be more efficient to close older prisons and replace them with new ones, Lappin agreed. "We certainly have to prioritize very cautiously funding for modernization repair because of the number of older prisons and the costs of reconstruction and modernization," he said. "It's an area that we really have to prioritize well."
Brian Friel covered management and human resources at Government Executive for six years and is now a National Journal staff correspondent.
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Political expert: Reports that the Azeri Parliament might adopt a law "On Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan" were just an attempt to see the reaction of the Azeri society, Armenia and the world community
Marat Terterov: Armenia’s long term security will be better served by strengthening economic security, rather than defining national security on the basis of the Tsarist Russian catch-cry “armiya i flot”
Baku. Issues of trade and economic relations between Baku and Podgorica were discussed at the meeting on July 17, during the First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyubov with Prime Minister of Montenegro, Igor Luksic.
Last year, bilateral trade amounted only $ 4 million, which does not correspond to the potential of cooperation. In order to revive economic ties, it is expected to start work of the intergovernmental commission.
Eyubov expressed satisfaction with the participation of Azerbaijan in major investment projects in tourism of Montenegro. He also thanked Montenegro for support of Azerbaijan during the elections as non-permanent members of UN Security Council.
Luksic, announced about the creation in the parliament of his country a Friendship Group with Azerbaijan. He expressed his country's interest in economic cooperation with Azerbaijan and noted the importance of Business Forum. He called for the signing of agreements on avoidance of double taxation and cooperation in customs matters.
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Pity Quotes and Quotations
More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple human pity that will not forsake us.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Pity is the feeling which arrests the mind in the presence of whatesoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the human sufferer.
A book or poem which has no pity in it had better not be written.
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University of Hawaii|
Institute for Astronomy
David J. Tholen
Ph.D., Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, 1984
Physical and Dynamical Studies of Small Bodies
Pluto has long been a research interest of mine. From 1984 to 1991, I obtained an extensive set of photometric observations of Pluto while Charon's orbit was sufficiently close to being seen edge-on from Earth such that the bodies occulted and eclipsed each other. Those observations led to the first reliable diameter measurements and density determination for Pluto and Charon. In the early 1990s, I served on NASA's Outer Planets Science Working Group that recommended a spacecraft mission to Pluto as a high priority for outer Solar System science. That committee's efforts finally paid off with the 2006 January launch of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft bound for Pluto, scheduled to arrive in 2015. In 1992 and 1993, shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope began operations, Marc Buie (Lowell Observatory) and I acquired a set of 60 images of Pluto and Charon that we used to refine the orbit of Charon (see figure below). An unexpected result was the non-zero eccentricity of Charon's orbit around Pluto. Following the discovery of two more satellites of Pluto in 2005, Buie and I, along with Will Grundy (also at Lowell Observatory) have been awarded time on the Hubble Space Telescope to acquired additional astrometric and photometric data of the Pluto system. These observations are scheduled to commence in early 2007, so we expect to have exciting new information about the new satellites soon.
Other dynamical work involves the Jovian and Saturnian satellites. For the purpose of improving the satellite ephemerides in advance of the Cassini spacecraft encounter, I observed satellite-satellite mutual events for the latter during the ring-plane crossing of 1995. I also observed similar events involving Jupiter's Galilean satellites in 1997 to measure Io's secular acceleration and compare the energy dissipation with heat flow measurements.
During graduate school, I worked on a colorimetric survey of the asteroids, and my doctoral dissertation presented a new asteroid taxonomy, which continues in wide use to this day. During that survey, we took every opportunity to observe what were then rather rare appearances by near-Earth asteroids. Following the realization that these objects represent an impact hazard to the Earth, in 1991 I was asked to serve on two NASA committees to deal with the questions of how to detect near-Earth asteroids and how to deflect any asteroid that appeared to be on a collision course with the Earth. Since that time, NASA has funded several sky surveys designed to find near-Earth asteroids, though they have concentrated on finding asteroids beyond the orbit of the Earth.
Recently, I have started tackling the difficult problem of finding near-Earth asteroids with orbits whose aphelion (greatest distance from the Sun) coincides with the Earth's orbit. Such objects could impact the Earth, but they would never be found by the other near-Earth object search efforts, which examine near-Earth space at distances greater than the Earth's distance from the Sun. The difficulty is caused by the extremely high phase angle of the objects being sought (a crescent Moon is considerably fainter than a nearly full Moon, to use an appropriate analogy) and the brief amount of time the required portion of the sky can be imaged shortly after sunset and before sunrise. The first such object to be discovered is 1998 DK36, which my thesis student, Robert Whiteley, and I found on February 23. Other near-Earth asteroid discoveries credited to this project include the Apollo-type asteroids 1997 QK1 and 1998 DV9, both of which are considered potentially hazardous objects. Our largest discovery is 1999 OW3, estimated to be nearly 5 km in diameter. Our most famous discovery is 2004 MN4, now known as (99942) Apophis, which will make an extremely close approach to the Earth on 2029 April 13.
I am on the science team for the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft mission to the near-Earth asteroid (25143) Itokawa, which was intended to be the world's first sample return mission to an asteroid. The rendezvous occurred between 2005 September and November. The timeline called for the spacecraft delivering its samples to Earth in mid-2007; however, a thruster anomaly delayed the journey home. Fortunately, the orbital geometry repeats every three years, so we're now hopeful for the sample return occurring in mid-2010.
I also work on the Small Bodies Node of the Planetary Data System, which archives planetary data related to asteroids, comets, and dust. In connection with that activity, I supplied software to the 2MASS infrared sky-survey project to predict which asteroids, comets, and planets might appear in each of the 2MASS scans. Over the course of the multi-year project, we extracted a homogeneous set of infrared JHK magnitudes for thousands of asteroids. That same software will soon be adapted for use with the upcoming WISE spacecraft mission.
The orbit of Charon. The dots represent the observations, and the solid curve represents the fitted orbit. To minimize the scatter produced by the varying sub-Earth latitude and topocentric distance during the fifteen months spanned by the observations, the data have been corrected to the single orbit interval centered on the epoch 1993 February 22. The orbital angular momentum vector points roughly toward the west, and the eastern portion of the orbit passes on the near side of Pluto.
Pluto-Charon research is being carried out in collaboration with Marc Buie, Lowell Observatory. Satellite mutual event analysis is being done with Kaare Aksnes, Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Norway.
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The University of Hawaii is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution
Copyright © 1998 IfA. All rights reserved.
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Underuse of aspirin for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease events in women
Journal of Women's Health, 05/11/2012
Rivera CM et al. – These findings confirm that the majority of women for whom aspirin is recommended for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) were not following national guidelines. Educational programs for clinicians and women aimed at promoting appropriate use of aspirin is one measure that should improve CVD outcomes in women.Methods
- Data from volunteer respondents participating in a web–based CVD risk assessment tool at 127 US healthcare centers were analyzed.
- Survey questions included information on CVD risk factors, the presence or absence of any form of CVD, diabetes mellitus, and medication usage, including daily aspirin.
- Logistic regression analyses identified factors associated with aspirin intake.
- Of the 217,987 women respondents, 29,701 women were recommended to take aspirin based on the guidelines.
- Authors found, however, that only 41% of women who meet criteria for primary prevention and 48% of women who meet criteria for secondary prevention report that they take aspirin on a daily basis.
- The main factors that favored aspirin use were a family history of CVD or high cholesterol.
- Although aspirin use for secondary prevention did not change between the years 2004 and 2009, there was a significant increase in aspirin use for primary prevention.
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Autism Report & ABA Limits
House Bill 1311 requires Missouri health insurers to provide coverage for autism in general, and for applied behavior analysis (ABA) for insureds 18 years of age and younger. An initial annual limit for ABA was set at $40,000 per year. The law requires that the Department of Insurance annually adjust the $40,000 ABA coverage limit for inflation. For 2013, it is $42,117.
|ABA Mandated Coverage Limits|
The law also requires the department to annually issue a report to the legislature assessing the impact of the autism mandate on the insurance marketplace:
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HR 440 RDS
H. R. 440
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2011
July 29, 2011
December 17, 2011
December 17, 2011
Read the first time
To provide for the establishment of the Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Seven Baha’i leaders in Iran have been wrongfully imprisoned since 2008.
(2) In May 2010, suspected terrorists attacked two mosques in Pakistan belonging to the Ahmaddiya minority Muslim sect, killing at least 80 people. Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, but Pakistani law does not recognize them as such.
(3) Said Musa, an Afghan Christian convert, was arrested in May 2010 on charges of apostasy, a crime which can carry the death sentence, and was released in February 2011 only after sustained international pressure.
(4) On October 31, 2010, gunmen laid siege on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, Iraq killing at least 52 police and worshipers, including two priests, making it the worst massacre of Iraqi Christians since 2003.
(5) Iraq’s ancient and once vibrant Christian population that numbered an estimated 1,500,000 out of a total population in Iraq of 30,000,000 in 2003 has been reduced by at least one half, due in significant part to Christians fleeing the violence.
(6) In November 2010, a Pakistani court sentenced Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, to death under the country’s blashphemy law for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
(7) On New Year’s Eve 2010, 23 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt.
(8) On March 2, 2011, Pakistani Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of the Cabinet, who was outspoken in his opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws was assassinated by extremists.
(9) The Department of State’s 2010 International Religious Freedom Report stated that many religious minority groups in Uzbekistan ‘faced heavy fines and/or short jail terms for violations of restrictive religion laws’.
(10) The Special Envoy for Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, has noted that Holocaust glorification ‘is especially virulent in the Middle East media’.
(11) A number of countries in the Middle East have recently undergone popular revolutions which in some countries have left security vacuums making religious minorities especially vulnerable to violent attacks, such as--
(A) in March 2011, the Shahedin Church in Helwan province, Egypt, was torched, leading to protests which spurred sectarian clashes in the streets of Cairo;
(B) on March 20, 2011, a group of Salafists in Upper Egypt cut off a Christian man’s ear and burned his home and car; and
(C) news reports from April 2011 indicate that Salafi organizations in Egypt have been implicated in the destruction of Sufi shrines across the country fueling violent conflict.
(12) Many of these ancient faith communities are being forced to flee the lands which they have inhabited for centuries.
(13) The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan be designated by the Department of State as Countries of Particular Concern in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
(14) The situation on the ground in the region continues to develop rapidly and the United States Government needs an individual who can respond in kind and focus on the critical situation of religious minorities in these countries.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE NEAR EAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA.
(a) Appointment- The President shall appoint a Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia (in this Act referred to as the ‘Special Envoy’) within the Department of State.
(b) Qualifications- The Special Envoy should be a person of recognized distinction in the field of human rights and religious freedom and with expertise in the Near East and South Central Asia regions. The Special Envoy shall have the rank of ambassador and shall hold the office at the pleasure of the President.
(c) Prohibition- The person appointed as Special Envoy may not hold any other position of Federal employment for the period of time during which the person holds the position of Special Envoy.
SEC. 3. DUTIES.
(a) In General- The Special Envoy shall carry out the following duties:
(1) Promote the right of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia, denounce the violation of such right, and recommend appropriate responses by the United States Government when such right is violated.
(2) Monitor and combat acts of religious intolerance and incitement targeted against religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.
(3) Work to ensure that the unique needs of religious minority communities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia are addressed, including the economic and security needs of such communities to the extent that such needs are directly tied to religious-based discrimination and persecution.
(4) Work with foreign governments of the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia to address laws that are inherently discriminatory toward religious minority communities in such countries.
(5) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of that portion of the report required by sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.
(6) Coordinate and assist in the preparation of that portion of the report required by section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)) relating to the nature and extent of religious freedom of religious minorities in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.
(b) Coordination- In carrying out the duties under subsection (a), the Special Envoy shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate with the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of State, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and other relevant Federal agencies and officials.
SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.
Subject to the direction of the President and the Secretary of State, the Special Envoy is authorized to represent the United States in matters and cases relevant to religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia in--
(1) contacts with foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies of the United Nations, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other international organizations of which the United States is a member; and
(2) multilateral conferences and meetings relevant to religious freedom in the countries of the Near East and the countries of South Central Asia.
SEC. 5. PRIORITY COUNTRIES AND CONSULTATION.
(a) Priority Countries- In carrying out this Act, the Special Envoy shall give priority to programs, projects, and activities for Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
(b) Consultation- The Special Envoy shall consult with domestic and international nongovernmental organizations and multilateral organizations and institutions, as the Special Envoy considers appropriate to fulfill the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 6. FUNDING.
(a) In General- Of the amounts made available for ‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’ for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, $1,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for each such fiscal year for the hiring of staff, for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(b) Funding Offset- To offset the costs to be incurred by the Department of State for the hiring of staff, for the conduct of investigations, and for necessary travel to carry out the provisions of this Act for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, the Secretary of State shall eliminate such positions within the Department of State, unless otherwise authorized or required by law, as the Secretary determines to be necessary to fully offset such costs.
(c) Limitation- No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for ‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’ to carry out this Act.
SEC. 7. SUNSET.
This Act shall cease to be effective beginning on October 1, 2015.
Passed the House of Representatives July 29, 2011.
KAREN L. HAAS,
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The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
Vaccine Safety Forum: Summaries of Two Workshops
age when medical problems due to genetic or congenital factors are first manifesting themselves. Therefore, it is difficult to assess whether these medical problems are caused by the vaccine or are coincidental to vaccine administration.
Often, it is not possible to assess how many individuals have been given a vaccine of interest, which creates an additional surveillance difficulty. This information is needed to determine what proportion of people receiving the vaccine are experiencing adverse events. Usually, the only data easily available are the number of doses of vaccine distributed, not the number of doses actually administered at any given time. In addition, for individuals who have had an adverse reaction to vaccination, the vaccine lot and manufacturer may not be known, making it difficult to trace potential problems with a particular lot or batch of vaccine.
Another challenge to detecting adverse events is that only a few doses of a single vaccine are usually given to an individual. If the risk of an adverse event is dose related, the likelihood that an adverse reaction occurs after vaccine administration is therefore much lower than after the administration of drugs because drugs are given several times a day for a period of weeks or months. In addition, large populations are needed to conduct epidemiologic studies designed to detect rare adverse events. Studying such large populations can be difficult to do in a timely manner and can be very expensive.
Finally, the fact that large numbers of children in the United States receive vaccinations during childhood presents problems in detecting adverse events following vaccination. In particular, it is difficult to find a comparable control population that has not received the vaccine to help assess potential causality and to determine how often adverse events occur in the absence of vaccination. Those individuals who, voluntarily or otherwise, do not receive vaccines may be different in other respects from those who do. They therefore are not a suitable control population. For example, children who are not vaccinated may be in poorer health, may receive different types of health care in general, or may be part of a restricted gene pool if they are members of religious groups that decline vaccines. In addition, the unvaccinated population may not be large enough to allow for the study of background rates of rare medical events. Although some researchers express ethical concerns about conducting a controlled trial that would require large numbers of individuals not to receive a vaccine from which they might benefit, some parents and consumers express ethical concerns about assuming that the benefit of a tested vaccine will outweigh its risks.
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Data Information Literacy project members Jake Carlson (Purdue University), Michael Fosmire (Purdue University), Marianne Stowell Bracke (Purdue University), Lisa Johnston (University of Minnesota), Brian Westra (University of Oregon), and Sarah Wright (Cornell University) will be presenting Friday, April 12th as part of the Association of College and Research Libraries annual conference in Indianapolis, IN.
The team will be leading a panel entitled "Growing E-Scientists: Developing Discipline-Specific Data Literacy Curricula," which will run from 1:30-2:30pm EST. A summary of the panel's focus is offered below.
"This panel presents the experiences of five teams from four different institutions working directly with faculty in science and engineering disciplines to determine what data skills graduate students need in order to be proficient ‘e-scientists.’ We will summarize the results of our interviews and needs assessments, provide a brief overview of the instructional interventions developed to meet those needs, and discuss the differences and similarities we found in data management / curation needs across disciplines."
Portions of ACRL 2013 will be broadcasted live over the Internet as part of the event's Virtual Conference program. Please click here for more details on the presentations to be made available online.
To follow all of the events of the conference, search for #acrl2013 on Twitter.
This fall, the Data Information Literacy team will be holding a symposium to cover major themes and approaches to data management and curation training. Details concerning the event, including dates and topics, are still being determined. Make sure to bookmark this page and follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.
As a reminder, our Publications page contains links to both articles and presentations pertaining to the DIL project.
Additional articles and presentations will be posted in the very near future.
Several members of the data information literacy project, including PI Jake Carlson and Co-PIs Lisa Johnston and Brian Westra, will be presenting "Developing an Approach for Data Management Education: A Report from the Data Information Literacy Project" at the 8th International Digital Curation Conference in Amsterdam.
The presentation will take place on Wednesday, January 16th from 12:15-12:30pm (CET). While the event will not be publicly broadcasted, interested parties may follow the events of the day by searching the #idcc13 hash tag on Twitter. Additionally, the DIL project will be providing updates via Twitter from the event. If you haven't done so already, make sure to follow our account for the latest news and information on the project.
Slides from the event will be posted to this page in the near future.
For more on IDCC '13 and the complete list of presenters and events, please click here.
The Data Curation Profiles Directory, a resource for Library and Information Science professionals, Archivists, IT professionals, Data Managers, and others who want information about the specific data generated and used in research areas and sub-disciplines that may be published, shared, and preserved for re-use, has gone live. Please see the message below from Jake Carlson, associate professor of library science at Purdue University.
"We are pleased to announce the Data Curation Profiles Directory. Working with the Purdue University e-Pubs repository, the Data Curation Profiles Directory provides a suite of services to support the publication of data curation profiles, including assigning a DOI for each published DCP, improved visibility for profiles through inclusion in indexing and discovery tools, and a commitment to the preservation of DCPs through CLOCKSS and Portico.
Information on publishing your data curation profile can be found on the new "Guidelines for Authors" page.
We see the Data Curation Profiles Directory as a significant advancement in supporting the publication of data curation profiles. Please send us your feedback (and your completed Profiles)!"
The Data Information Literacy (DIL) Project's extended abstract submission to the 8th International Digital Curation Conference (IDCC) in Amsterdam has been accepted.
The conference, which will take place from January 14-16 in the Netherlands, is organized by the Digital Curation Centre, a world-leading center of expertise in digital information curation based in the United Kingdom.
This year, IDCC's theme is "Infrastructure, Intelligence, Innovation: Driving the Data Science Agenda." The DIL project will be presenting a paper discussing the results of interviews conducted with faculty members and students performing research in a variety of disciplines across five different U.S. universities.
Additionally, the paper and presentation will include the educational interventions employed by project teams to address the needs identified during the interviews.
To stay up-to-date on everything related to IDCC '13, please use the #idcc13 hash tag on Twitter.
All of our project teams are in the process of putting finalizing touches on their educational interventions or currently conducting training with their associated research groups. If you have been monitoring our social media feeds over the past few weeks, you have seen that each team is doing something a bit different. A summary of each team's status is provided below:
Purdue University: One team at Purdue is working with a service learning program to teach students skills and best practices in documenting software code. A separate team will be beginning their educational intervention this month, with the first focus being a file checklist.
University of Minnesota: The University of Minnesota project team is currently developing a 7 module online course which, upon completion, will result in a student data management plan. (Update: The online course is available at z.umn.edu/datamgmt.)
University of Oregon: The University of Oregon team is developing data management training sessions for graduate students to be implemented this semester during research group meetings.
Cornell University: Cornell University is in the process of developing a special topics course on data management for students which will begin on October 11. Team members are working on the content for the course in preparation for its start date.
As always, the most up-to-date information can be found on our social media feeds, including Facebook and Twitter. As project outputs continue to be released, they will be posted on the Materials page.
On Wednesday, several documents were posted to the wiki which comprise the interview instruments utilized by Data Information Literacy (DIL) researchers to conduct conversations with faculty members and graduate students at multiple universities regarding their data management practices and proficiencies.
The instruments have been made publicly available in the hopes that librarians at other institutions will re-purpose them for their own usage. As explained on our Materials page - where you can download the documents - the instruments are generic in nature so that they can be applied to any research discipline.
On Monday, June 18 and Tuesday, June 19, members of the data information literacy project will converge at Purdue University to take part in a workshop designed to elicit discussion concerning the interviews and analysis performed by teams thus far.
During the course of the two-day workshop, team members from Cornell University, Purdue University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Oregon will look to identify common themes running across the work that has been completed at this point in the project. Additionally, the group will begin designing possible educational interventions and curricula to be implemented at each institution.
To follow updates from the workshop, make sure to follow @dataintolit on Twitter. The team will be utilizing the #datainfolit hash tag for news and updates from the event.
The Data Information Literacy project recently acquired two domain names for easy access to our wiki page. Please update your bookmarks to one of the following: www.datainfolit.org or www.datainformationliteracy.org
"Determining Data Information Literacy Needs: A Study of Students and Research Faculty" has been selected as the winner of the ASEE ELD 2012 Best Publication Award.
The article, co-written by Jake Carlson, Michael Fosmire, Chris Miller, and Megan Sapp Nelson, was published in portal: Libraries and the Academy in 2011 and introduced the concept of data information literacy, providing some preliminary insight into how data information literacy might be defined.
Members of the review committee praised the article for providing "a very realistic overview of how data could be managed at many academic institutions." Committee members also stressed the success of the article in exploring the roles of all major players in the research process, including graduate students, faculty members, and librarians.
For a list of previous ASEE ELD winners, please click here.
Stay tuned to this page for more information and further updates on the DIL project.
The interviewing stage of the project has officially begun, with research members engaging in sessions with faculty and graduate students in various STEM disciplines across several universities.
As the project continues to evolve, more updates and news will be posted to this page. Make sure to bookmark this site, as project toolkits and outputs will be made available here.
The Purdue News Service has issued a press release detailing the specifics of the Data Information Literacy project. A snippet of the release can be read below - for the full story, please follow the "Continue Reading..." link at the bottom of this post.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In partnership with librarians at the University of Minnesota, the University of Oregon and Cornell University, Purdue University Libraries received nearly $250,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop training programs for the next generation of scientists to enable them to find, organize, use and share data efficiently and effectively.
The program is intended for graduate students in engineering and science disciplines who are working their way toward careers as research scientists, said Jake Carlson, a Purdue associate professor of library science who is leading the collaboration.
"Technology has made it easier to share research data beyond the lab in which it was originally created," Carlson said. "The problem right now is that in many cases data are not being administered in ways that enable them to be easily discovered, understood or repurposed for use by other researchers."Continue Reading...
Please check back for continued updates as the project progresses.
We now have active accounts on both Facebook and Twitter. Please Like and Follow us for information and updates on the project. We will also be posting news and useful links on data curation and e-science in general.
Additionally, if you wish to view our latest updates on either social network, please click the "social media feeds" link on the left-hand menu.
Each page now contains sharing buttons, which are located in the area below the page's content. Clicking on any of these buttons will allow you to share the content of the page you are viewing with the individual(s) of your choice, via the specific medium you select. Please help us to spread awareness about the project by sharing the page with your colleagues!
Several changes have been made to the wiki, making it easier to navigate. The menu has been completely retooled, and a new color scheme and layout have been applied. If you have suggestions for the layout of the wiki, please leave a comment below.
Additionally, social media icons have been placed below the navigation menu. Currently, the icons are not linked as our social media presence has not been established; however, our social media pages should be created sometime in the near future. Please continue to check the wiki for updates!
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Guest Article #43
Oceans and Coasts at the Frontline of Climate Change
The world's oceans play a central role in climate, akin to the Earth's lungs and circulatory system. The world cannot do without a healthy ocean generating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide and regulating climate and temperature. Oceans already absorb over 80% of the heat added to the climate system and nearly 50% of all carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels over the past 250 years.
The oceans' ability to provide these life-sustaining services is now at risk. Rising ocean temperatures trigger broad-scale effects -from melting polar ice, rising sea levels, shifting species distribution and abundance, erratic weather patterns, increased frequency and intensity of storms, to changes in ocean currents. Moreover, additional carbon dioxide absorbed by seawater has caused a 30% increase in acidity, posing serious threats to marine ecosystems and the millions of people dependent upon them.
The more than 50% of the human population that lives in 183 coastal countries, including 44 small island nations, are at the frontline of climate change and will suffer disproportionate impacts from ocean warming, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and ocean acidification. For example, a 2009 report by the United Nations University predicts that the number of people flooded per year may reach 370 million by 2100.
Oceans and coasts have not yet figured on the agenda of the UNFCCC, where any realm other than the atmosphere has to date been regarded as a “sectoral nuisance.”
All members of the global oceans community -governments, international agencies, NGOs, science groups, and the private sector- are mobilizing to call attention to this issue. The need to craft a comprehensive program related to climate and oceans, both within and beyond the UNFCCC process, is among the key recommendations from the first Oceans Day at the Copenhagen UNFCCC COP-15 (www.oceansday.org/pdf/summary.pdf) and the Global Oceans Conference in May 2010 at UNESCO in Paris (www.globaloceans.org).
A comprehensive oceans and climate program would encompass:
Ensure the continuing functioning of the oceans in sustaining life on Earth by adopting stringent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, within a short timeframe, to avoid disastrous consequences on oceans and coastal communities.
Emphasize the positive contributions that oceans and coastal areas can play in the mitigation of global warming through:
1) Use of natural carbon sinks in coastal areas (e.g., mangroves, seagrass beds, kelp forests, tidal marshes) which have a greater capacity (per unit of area) than terrestrial carbon sinks in achieving long-term carbon sequestration in sediments. “Blue carbon” could be traded and handled in a similar way to green carbon (such as rainforests) and entered into emission and climate mitigation protocols.
2) Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from ships through a variety of technical and operational measures. Carbon dioxide emissions from international shipping, accounting for 2.7% of global carbon dioxide emissions in 2007, are expected to grow to 18% by 2050 as a result of growth in world trade.
3) Development of ocean-based renewable energy, such as wind power, currents, tides, and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), through the use of marine spatial planning, giving appropriate priority to marine renewable energy and through funding for large-scale development and implementation.
4) Careful consideration of carbon capture and storage via injection in deep seabed geological formations.
Some geo-engineering approaches such as direct injection of carbon dioxide into the water column, and ocean fertilization, however, should be discouraged due to the potential for irreversible harm to the marine environment.
1) Implement adaptation measures through integrated coastal and ocean management institutions at national, regional, and local levels to achieve the preparedness, resilience, and adaptive capacities of coastal communities.
2) Encourage the application of ecosystem-based adaptation strategies to preserve, restore and increase the resilience of coastal and marine ecosystems, including through the use of marine protected areas.
3) Prepare for the legal, economic, social, and humanitarian issues associated with the displacement of coastal populations due to climate change.
Capacity development and public education
Extensive capacity development, public education and awareness programs are urgently needed to prepare national and local officials and the public in coastal regions to address climate change.
Adaptation cost estimates for coastal areas and small island States are woefully inadequate, as are the adaptation resources currently available. UNFCCC 2007 estimates the costs of adaptation in coastal zones at about $11 billion/year, using lower sea level rise predictions and not including potential impacts of increased storm intensity. With over half of the world's population living in coastal regions and likely to experience the most pronounced effects of climate change, at least half the funds made available for adaptation should target coastal and island peoples and countries.
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I'm getting a fat bonus in a couple of days, and am seriously considering buying an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and keeping it in my trunk. Along with CPR, timely use of these units are pretty much the only thing that can save a person in cardiac arrest. Not the average thing you'd think of getting for your car, and they're not cheap ($1k-$3k). And it's not for everybody; most people would be squeamish about helping out in accident and trauma scenes. But if you're BLS certified like me, this would be cool to have (anyone can take a CPR/AED class; they're cheap, and take only a few hours).
I was thinking car manufacturers could maybe offer it as an option for those interested, and make use of the car's electrical system somehow, maybe by keeping the unit charged, if an AED was developed to use rechargeable batteries.
Yea, I know what you're thinking . . "hmmm, forced induction, or an AED?"
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No greater honor will ever be bestowed on an officer, or a more profound duty imposed on him, than when he is entrusted with the investigation of the death of another human being.
It is his duty to find the facts regardless of color or creed, without prejudice, and to let no power on earth deter him from presenting these facts to the court without regard to personality.
--The Homicide Investigator's Creed
As you arrive on the dark street you hear the wailing cry of a mother being pulled away from her son's body lying in a pool of blood. Paramedic debris is strewn around the body, and the highly emotional woman must be physically restrained as the young man's body is lifted onto a gurney and loaded into an ambulance. Although he is surely already dead, the victim is often transported to a hospital anyway, to be officially pronounced dead. This will further complicate your crime scene.
Your first step is to make sure that you truly have the one and only crime scene because there may be secondary crime scenes. The victim may have run some distance before falling. Maybe the victim's homeboys moved him in an attempt to transport him to the hospital or to move him away from something they wanted to hide.
Secondary crime scenes are important. You may discover that the victim was hit by "friendly fire" from his own homeboys. You may find that other rounds impacted buildings or vehicles and they can be recovered for ballistic analysis. There may even be other unidentified victims. Reconstructing the shooting scene will make determining where shooter and victim stood and possibly how many shooters were involved easier.
Your initial appearance at the crime scene is the time to appear especially efficient and professional. Show your concern for the victim and family. Remember while you are studying the crime scene, the people in the neighborhood, especially the gang members, are studying you. Any perception of disrespect or lack of concern will make the development of cooperative witnesses in the future unlikely.
The all too common gang murder scene, especially in the case of a drive-by, is almost devoid of the kind of useful evidence found in other homicides. There's no murder weapon, fingerprints, significant blood spatter, hair, fibers, or DNA. If you are lucky, you may find some shell casings.
The lack of CSI evidence means that legwork is going to be critical. Revisit the crime scene at different times. Be sure to walk it in daylight.
Look for graffiti. Record the victim gang's graffiti. Then visit the suspect gang's area and photograph the gang graffiti there. Gang members often memorialize their dead and most of their significant assaults on their enemies in their graffiti.
Knowing the language and ethnic culture of the neighborhood can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccessful investigation. Contact an older gang detective or patrol officer who is familiar with the history of the victim's street gang and their traditional rivals and learn as much as you can. Talk to the officers who work that area and ask them for information from their informants.
Before interviewing any witness, run a complete background check of the subject. Try to obtain information about family relationships within the gang and possibly with their rivals. Be aware of outstanding wants or warrants for the witness; you can use them as leverage.
Never rush the interview. Be prepared to spend several hours in the initial interview, and often considerable time in follow-ups.
The initial interviews of any gang member witness will likely produce false statements and half-truths. Just remember that the accumulation of several half-truth statements will result in a generally accurate story. It is from this composite story that you can challenge the witness's version so that a more truthful statement can be drawn out.
It is the second or possibly the third interview of that same witness that will expose more of the truth and reveal who will make the best witnesses in court. This is the time to look for the reliable (even if reluctant) non-gang witness who can accurately testify to the story without the baggage carried by the gang members.
When the witness statements have become more truthful, they should be recorded. But always know what version the witness will give before taping and attempt to keep the recorded statement concise and to the point.
Let the witness give his or her version in his or her own words at first. After this first spontaneous statement, ask questions to obtain the necessary details. Avoid questions that can be answered only with a yes or no.
Gang witnesses often become future gang murder suspects. So photograph all witnesses. This will also aid you when these witnesses become reluctant to make court appearances. The photographs can be used to identify them on the street for subpoena service.
Consider a re-interview at a later date attended by a prosecutor and with the witness under oath. Pre-arrange with your partner which aspects of the case will not be revealed to the witnesses. You should also withhold from the assisting patrol officers and detectives some of the specific facts of the case. There should be several specific details known only to you and your partner and the killer(s).
Composite and artist-rendered drawings of the suspect should be done as soon as possible. The better the skills of the artist and the more accurate the witness observations the more likely the drawing will produce an identification. This is especially true in gang cases because gang members often visually recognize many other rival gang members, although they often do not know their true names.
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- Residential Market
- Light Commercial Market
- Commercial Market
- Indoor Air Quality
- Components & Accessories
- Residential Controls
- Commercial Controls
- Testing, Monitoring, Tools
- Services, Apps & Software
- Standards & Legislation
- EXTRA EDITION
Skills in Demand
Future HVACR technicians are busy learning tomorrow’s technology today. A growing desire for computer skills is apparent in the HVAC industry, just as they are in most other employment sectors.
David White, director, Advanced Robotic Technology, Brisbane, Australia, said every student with a technical aptitude has a desire to work with computers.
“The HVAC industry has a lot of computer-related areas including drafting, design, controls, and more. We just need to get these kids involved at a school level in something exciting and hands-on so that they get the bug,” he said.
“There are now a lot of cool machines that take drawings and turn them into ducting and other components. We are finding that it is a real buzz for kids to actually produce something they can feel and touch from a computer drawing.”
Gene Mattiaccio, an HVAC and green technology instructor in New York, has introduced numerous interactive computer simulations inside his classroom. “Modeling theory or skills on a computer gives students an idea on how things should work. They can attempt the project in the lab to see how it actually works,” he said. “I also use videos of instruction from other teachers on particular subjects. It’s a good attack to offer training from as many angles as possible. I call it diversified training.”
Whole-home performance and energy-efficiency skills are also on the rise. Lincoln Technical Institute, Union, N.J., officials said their energy auditing certification course is currently attracting more attention than any other offering.
“We have people from all over the nation asking about classes for our green technology courses,” said Lou Vendrell, HVACR curriculum council chair and education supervisor, Lincoln Technical Institute. “The future of the HVACR industry is based on the newer technicians’ ability to adapt and learn the industry’s latest innovations. As our industry evolves to a higher technological era, newer technicians will need to meet those advanced technologies with an open mind and sound HVACR knowledge.”
In addition to these new-world skills, Kevin Couch, HVACR instructor, R.G. Drage Career Technical Center, said young learners should not forget that the HVACR trade will continue to be based on old-fashioned, hands-on labor.
“Even though the equipment has gotten better, not all homes have it in them. The old standing pilot, spark ignition, gravity, and other basic systems are still out there,” he said. “It is very important to keep it simple and focus on the essential skills that you need in the field to be successful.”
D. Brian Baker, an instructor and contractor who owns Custom Vac Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, agreed that basic skills still need to be taught. According to Baker, all of the skilled trades are facing a severe worker shortage.
“From bakers, roofers, stucco and plasterers, HVACR, and plumbers, we all need skilled people,” he said. “Shortages specific to the HVACR sector reached that critical shortage a few years back. Why? It’s because all the vocational-tech schools shut their doors because the world was going to be run by computers. Now, who can fix the furnace or air conditioners? No one, because no one knows how to do the manual work.”
Contractor Ken Bodwell, owner of Innovative Service Solutions, Orlando, noted that both computer and technical skills will be needed by the next generation of technicians.
“I believe most young people are computer literate and whereas this industry is no different than others where everything is microprocessor-based, the opportunities will evolve around electronics more than mechanical,” he said. “Still, the refrigeration cycle remains the same.”
Recruiting the Next Generation
Industry members also stress that the combination of new and old skills needed — and the excellent career opportunities in HVACR — must be promoted in order to recruit more young people to the trade.
Steve Dodd, MEP advisor and director of service and energy, Fidelity Engineering Corp., Washington, D.C., referenced several new skills becoming relevant in the HVAC sector.
“These skills include technology, intelligent devices, green, financial influence, stability, health effect, and more,” said Dodd. “First we need to educate guidance counselors as to these things since they start the influence process as early as middle school.”
Jeff Plant, general manager, Springfield Mechanical Services Inc., Springfield, Mo., believes HVAC work is more than just physical labor, and agreed that young students need to be aware of the many opportunities available in the industry at an earlier age.
“The first thing people think of when they think of HVAC workers is the old labeling of the construction worker. Although that spot for installation and backbreaking work is never going to be replaced, there are many other avenues and opportunities that present themselves in this trade,” he said.
“If we want to attract younger people to this trade, we need to relate. Show them the wide array of opportunities that this trade offers. We as successful tradesmen need to visit the local high schools with our local apprenticeship programs and share our stories. Encourage the young people that they can be successful in this trade and make it clear that only through hard work will they gain success.”
Mark Herfield, service mechanic, Southland Industries, Gilroy, Calif., referred to HVAC work as a science.
“Today, students learn thermodynamics, mechanical, electrical, hydronic principles, customer service, and sales skills,” he said.
“The skills and knowledge you gain can help you with everyday projects and repairs in your home all the while earning a good wage without the crippling burden of high education costs.”
Natalie DeRousse, a senior sales training manager with Johnson Controls Unitary Products, further stressed the need for business skills. “HVAC takes a lot of understanding of how systems work on the technical side, and how a contractor’s business runs on the sales side,” she said.
Baker added that the burden to recruit falls on contractors.
“How many of you speak to young high school students? Why are you not taking a young person on for job shadowing for a day from a local high school or junior high? Why are you not speaking to politicians and asking them to do more to help bridge this skills gap? There is so much more we can each do,” he said.
Couch elaborated that the industry’s future will be led by smart individuals who are able to think and react quickly.
“We need to have technicians who can adapt to all the changes that have happened, and will happen. They need to have a positive attitude in everything that they do,” he said.
“As I recruit students each year, I explain that there are excellent opportunities in our field, but you need to lead the correct lifestyle. One has to remain drug free, keep a great driving record, be dependable, and have common sense.”
Publication date: 05/28/2012
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Groves Takes Command
"We are in the soup!"
By September 1942, the difficulties involved with conducting preliminary studies on nuclear weapons at universities scattered throughout the country indicated the need for a laboratory dedicated solely to that purpose. The need for it, however, was overshadowed by the demand for plants to produce uranium-235 and plutonium - the fissionable materials that would provide the nuclear explosives.
Vannevar Bush, the head of the civilian Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), asked President Franklin Roosevelt to assign the large-scale operations connected with the project to the military. Roosevelt chose the Army to work with the OSRD in building production plants. The Army Corps of Engineers selected Col. James Marshall to oversee the construction of factories to separate uranium isotopes and manufacture plutonium for the bomb.
OSRD scientists had explored several methods to produce plutonium and separate uranium-235 from uranium, but none of the processes was ready for production - only microscopic amounts had been prepared.
Only one method — electromagnetic separation, which had been developed by Ernest Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory at the University of California-Berkeley - seemed promising for large-scale production. But scientists could not stop studying other potential methods of producing fissionable materials, because it was so expensive and because it was unlikely that it alone could produce enough material before the war was over.
OSRD project leaders also could not agree on the location of the production plants. Lawrence, for example, wanted a plant built near his laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. Arthur Compton wanted plants in the midwest near his laboratory at the University of Chicago.
Marshall and his deputy, Col. Kenneth Nichols, had to struggle to understand both the processes and the scientists with whom they had to work. Thrust suddenly into the new field of nuclear physics, they felt unable to distinguish between technical and personal preferences. Although they decided that a site near Knoxville, Tenn., would be suitable for the first production plant, they didn't know how large the site had to be and so put off its acquisition. There were other problems, too.
Because of its experimental nature, the nuclear weapons work could not compete with the Army's more-urgent tasks for top-priority ratings. The selection of scientists' work and production-plant construction often were delayed by Marshall's inability to get the critical materials, such as steel, that also were needed in other military productions.
Even selecting a name for the new Army project was difficult. The title chosen by Gen. Brehon Somervell, "Development of Substitute Materials," was objectionable because it seemed to reveal too much.
Enter Col. Leslie Groves.
In the summer of 1942, Groves was deputy to the chief of construction for the Army Corps of Engineers and had overseen construction of the Pentagon, the world's largest office building. Hoping for an overseas command, Groves objected when Somervell appointed him to take charge of the weapons project. His objections were overruled and Groves resigned himself to leading a project he thought had little chance of succeeding.
After Groves met with Bush to tell him that he had been assigned to oversee the project, Bush complained that Groves did not have sufficient rank or tact to get the job done. "I fear we are in the soup!" wrote Bush.
Groves took on his new assignment with a determination to make it work.
The first thing he did was rechristen the project "The Manhattan District." The name evolved from the Corps of Engineers practice of naming districts after its headquarters' city (Marshall's headquarters were in New York City). At the same time, Groves was promoted to brigadier general, which gave him the rank thought necessary to deal with the senior scientists in the project.
Groves then asked the head of the War Production Board for the highest-priority rating for the Manhattan District. When the official refused, Groves threatened to tell the president that the project would have to be canceled because the board would not give him the necessary support. The official caved in to Groves' bluff, and the project was assigned top priority.
Groves also arranged to have a free hand in dealing with the War Department. In a meeting with the Army chief of staff, Bush, Somervell and others, Groves convinced them to form a Military Policy Committee to provide combined OSRD and War and Navy department oversight of the project.
That accomplished, Groves abruptly got up from the meeting to catch a train to Tennessee, where on the following day he arranged for acquisition of a site at Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Within a week of his appointment, Groves had solved the Manhattan Project's most urgent problems. This forceful and effective manner was soon to become all too familiar to the atomic scientists.
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Having a lot of interest for Space Physics, and therefore I try hard to follow what is happening at LHC and simplifying the language used in the communications coming out of LHC is a great help to me so I like to share them. The LHC is the world's biggest ever physics experiment, and by studying conditions close to those just after the big bang, it could solve some of science's deepest mysteries.
The multi Billion Euro Project is an attempt to dissect the early universe, by answering questions like:_
- Creating the conditions of dense state of matter thought to have filled the universe in its first nanoseconds by playing with the big partial smasher.
- Using the collider to move and collide heavy ions in its bid to explore the universe's first microseconds.
- Finding Evidence of supersymmetry (SUSY), a theory that helps solve several cosmological mysteries, as well as exotic new types of matter that may emerge from the experiments carried out at LHC.
Recent news on 7th of November 2010, with the new experiment is looking promising in unravelling some of the mysteries, but it is also adding to complexities in visualizing what was happening in our early universe. According to media reports, the results of the experiment have surprised physicists as they contradict the accepted view of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the creation of the universe, that the Big Bang threw out a superheated gas that clumped together to form matter.
Scientists working at the world's largest particle smasher, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva, in Switzerland, have discovered that an exotic soup more than 10 trillion degrees Celsius in temperature was created immediately after the birth of the universe.
This sticky, gloopy substance, known as a “quark-gluon plasma”, behaved like a hot liquid, according to their results. This provided the perfect environment for the first particles and atoms to form, which later led to the stars and galaxies that surround us today.
"In the very first instances of the universe, it was actually behaving like a very dense liquid," the Telegraph quoted Dr David Evans, a particle physicist at the University of Birmingham who is the UK's lead investigator in the experiment, as saying.
"These results are telling us about the evolution of the early universe, which inevitably will have had implications for how the universe looks today."
In the mean time I am trying to get my head around these experiments, the differences between Liquid/Gas/Plasma and how it relates to the early universe conditions is intriguing.
In my view what we call Gas or Liquid based on our every day observations, is far from the building blocks of the early universe. So how we can make analogies like this is a little beyond my understanding of our world. Physicists will soon have to decide what kind of particle smasher they want built after the LHC. Since most of these experiments require taxpayer’s money, I therefore share some of the public frustrations in understanding the language used to describe the work being done.
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Nearly 10,000 acres have burned in the forest preserve in the past five days. The cause of the fire is unknown, though there is speculation that it started at an illegal garbage dump. The International Business Times reports that authorities have previously found outdoor drug labs in Jalisco's forests. The Latin American Herald Tribune reported that gunmen were preventing some firefighting teams from reaching the fire.
Hector Guerrero / AFP - Getty Images
A massive fire is seen at 'La Primavera' forest in Guadalajara, Mexico, April 25. More than 700 firefighters were sent to the site where the fire has been burning uncontrolled for almost five days.
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Podcasts & RSS Feeds
Most Active Stories
- There's a tick boom in Michigan - Here are 5 things you should know
- Students aren’t leaving Michigan football - Michigan football is leaving them
- The 6 most dangerous neighborhoods in Michigan
- The 15 Michigan schools running the biggest deficits
- You need to see these photos of the pet coke piles in Detroit
Mon December 19, 2011
Group at work to create "evaluation tool" for Michigan teachers
Discussions are underway to figure out how best to evaluate Michigan’s teachers.
Governor Snyder has tasked a group of five people to develop a so-called “teacher evaluation” tool as part of the state’s new teacher tenure law. The law contains a lot about teacher evaluation, but doesn’t detail what the evaluation would look like.
That’s the job of the Governor's Council on Educator Effectiveness. It’s led by Deborah Ball, dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan. The Council held a public meeting earlier this month to talk about their work on the evaluation tool, or system as she called it.
Ball says the system will include a way to track student growth, and ways to measure instructional practices:
"The real value of a good system will be something that provides very useful information to teachers, and to the people who coach and mentor and guide teachers," says Ball.
She says the point of the evaluation system is not to get teachers fired, but to help them improve:
"The main point is to create a system whereby we can determine who’s doing really well, learn from those people, and for people who are not teaching as well as they could, what are the ways we can provide better guidance support so that really every kid in Michigan has a teacher that’s teaching as skillfully as possible."
Ball says the issue of local control has come up repeatedly since they began their work on the evaluation system, and it's something they will continue to grapple with as they move forward: should their be one system, should they allow for modification among school districts, etc.
The Detroit News reports hundreds of Michigan school districts have already sought an exemption from the evaluation system, regardless of what it looks like:
More than 40 percent of Michigan's school districts are seeking waivers from a new state law requiring them to adopt a uniform teacher evaluation system by 2013.
Officials from 344 public school districts and charter schools have filed requests with the Governor's Council on Educator Effectiveness for exemptions because they have local evaluation systems in place, said Dennis Schornack, a senior strategy adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder. The deadline for filing was Nov. 1.
The evaluation system is supposed to go into effect for the 2012 school year.
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ALM Practices Part 3: Unit Testing & TDD
In essence, Test Driven Development (TDD) is a practice in which the interface and the behavior of a component is designed while writing a unit test. In other words, you typically start writing a test case and define the exact members, behavior and names on the fly. In fact, the word Test in TDD is misleading at the least, because the whole practice is really a design methodology that promotes creating testable loosely coupled software. And since this is going to be a difficult endeavor without applying the right design principles, you usually end up with a maintainable and extensible system which by incidence also includes a high code coverage. Without TDD, these same goals are very difficult to reach.
Why would you do that?
- Because a seemingly small chance might have unexpected side effects caused by errors in the design or an solution that is too complex.
- Because the simple practice of writing a readable unit test forces you to create code that is testable.
- Because you will discover new scenarios while writing those tests that you usually do not find until you start running into bugs while testing the actual system.
- Because a readable unit tests helps other developers to understand how to use the component’s API.
- Because a set of well written comprehensible unit tests prevent you from long hours into the Visual Studio debugger, both during initial development as well as during an extensive system test.
- Because you will be the first user of your component’s API which should stimulate you to really think carefully about how other users should use the API.
- Because having a high coverage should encourage you to proactively refactor and improve your code base while adding new features.
What’s the bare minimum you need to do?
- Write Intention revealing unit tests for all business critical functionality, technically complex code, components that are reused often and parts that are difficult to test manually.
- Make sure that test code complies to the same high standards as production code. Test specifications are first class citizens as well.
What’s the usual thing to do?
- Use TDD for everything you create and apply the red-green-refactor mantra rigorously.
- Use the tests as your starting point for Peer Reviews. Every TFS task, user story or other functional work item should be associated with a set of tests that define the expected behavior of a component. As a reviewer you first review those tests to make sure the behavior matches your expectations, before you move on to the actual production code.
How do you do that?
- Read all TDD-related articles pointed to from this blog post written by Jeremy D. Miller, and the article Principes of Test Automation from the book xUnit Patterns. These should give you a kick start on unit testing and TDD.
- On your project site or dashboard, explicitly state which projects within your Visual Studio solution should be fully covered by unit tests and why (not).
- Active Code Coverage and strive for a minimum of 90% coverage.
- Configure a Daily Build that runs all unit tests and use the Quality Indicators report from the TFS MSF Agile process template to monitor the code coverage and the success rate of your tests over time. This report also shows the amount of code that still changes, which is very helpful when the team approaches an important deadline.
- Configure your build in such a way that it automatically creates a bug upon any test failure and make sure the first team member that enters the office feels responsible for fixing that.
- Automatically deploy test data required by your integration tests (unit tests that require a database) using a Database Project.
- Consider reading the entire xUnit Patterns book. It contains invaluable resources on the organizational, technical and practical aspects of unit testing in large teams.
(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.)
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Clayton, Robert, Sir (1629-1707) | University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Born at Bulwick, Northamptonshire, England, 29 September 1629, Sir Robert Clayton was a banker, alderman, member of Parliament, knight, and Lord Mayor of London.
He became an apprentice to his uncle, a London scrivener, where he met a fellow apprentice, Alderman John Morris. They became successful businessmen and established the bank, Clayton & Morris Co.
Clayton entered politics and representing several wards as a Whig. He was knighted in 1671. Clayton made a considerable fortune, and on John Morris's death in 1682, inherited considerable wealth. In 1697 he lent the king £30,000 to pay for the army.
He was president of the St Thomas' Hospital in London next to the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament. He employed Thomas Cartwright to rebuild the hospital and St Thomas Church nearby.
Robert Clayton was a member of the Scriveners and Drapers Company, an Alderman of Cheap Ward in the City of London (1670-1683), a Sheriff in 1671, Lord Mayor of London (1679-1680), a Member of Parliament for the City of London (1678-1681), Colonel of the Orange Regiment of militia (various times, 1680-1702), President of the Honourable Artillery Company (1690-1703), Commissioner of the Customs (1689-1697), an Assistant to the Royal African Company (1672-1681) and a governor of the Bank of England (1702-1707).
Sir Robert outlived his children and his heir was his nephew, Sir William Clayton. He died 16 July 1707.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clayton, accessed 10/19/06.
http://library-2.lse.ac.uk/archives/handlists/Clayton/m.html, British Library of Political and Economic Science, accessed 10/19/06
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City officials will soon have to take greater strides in planning stormwater regulations as the date to develop a new program nears.
Jonathan Zimmermann, city engineer, said the city must develop stormwater regulations under a mandate by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now that Union has become a MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems) city by reaching the benchmark of 10,000 residents.
“This program could touch every aspect of local government from the ground up,” Zimmermann said.
He told the city’s personnel, finance and public works committee Monday that officials may not be informed of what new requirements will be mandated until after the Nov. 5 election, but the city must draft a permit application to be submitted for approval by Dec. 12 to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
“There will be requirements we have to meet but that is not really spelled out,” he said.
Some department heads, including City Administrator Russell Rost, Zimmermann and Public Works Director Harold Lampkin, have been attending DNR MS4 meetings throughout the state.
Those meetings include changes that are likely to occur, including how the city can permit new developments.
“DNR really seemed unsure of what the permitting requirements may be,” said Rost.
The program is an effort to reduce the impact and effects from stormwater discharges. The intent of the program is to prevent various chemicals and other pollutants from entering streams and rivers.
Union falls under Phase II of the MS4, which is focused on communities with populations of more than 10,000.
Under the program, regulated communities are required to develop, implement and enforce a stormwater management program designed to reduce the discharge of pollutants through the community’s storm sewer system.
The city will be audited after five years to ensure requirements are met.
Aldermen will most likely have to amend ordinances to comply with the new standards.
Rost added that it is likely that the city will develop a stormwater management team to address the mandates.
There are six “minimum” control measures required under the plan:
• Public education and outreach;
• Public participation/involvement;
• Illicit discharge detection and elimination;
• Construction site runoff control;
• Post-construction runoff control; and
• Pollution prevention/good housekeeping.
An overview of the mandated program states that concentrated development in urbanized areas substantially increases impervious surfaces such as city streets, driveways, parking lots and sidewalks, on which pollutants settle and remain until a storm event washes them into nearby storm drains.
Common pollutants include pesticides, fertilizers, oils, salt, litter and other debris and sediment. When left uncontrolled, these discharges can result in fish kills, the destruction of spawning and wildlife habitats, a loss of aesthetic value and the contamination of drinking water supplies and recreation waterways which can threaten public health.
The MS4 regulations are not the only new requirements now that the city has topped 10,000 residents.
There also are changes in how water consumer information is dispersed.
Prior to reaching 10,000 residents, it was sufficient to publish the consumer confidence report, or drinking water quality report, in a legal newspaper, as well as publicly post the report.
Now the city is required to mail the report to about 4,500 residential and commercial water users.
That creates additional printing and mailing costs for the city.
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By James Beckerman, MD, FACC
Paula Deen is having quite a week. Here’s the condensed version:
1) Paula Deen promotes a lifestyle associated with increased type 2 diabetes risk
2) Paula Deen develops diabetes.
3) Paula Deen endorses diabetes medication.
4) Everybody is talking about Paula Deen.
There is so much outrage and indignation in our tweets, blogs, and editorials as Paula Deen turns lemons into sweet, sweet lemonade. People are upset that she has not acknowledged — to their satisfaction — that bacon, egg and glazed donut burgers may have played some role in the development of her diabetes, or are frustrated that her pharmaceutical endorsement implies that a drug is the ideal solution to address a lifestyle problem.
But maybe we’re also upset because the joke is actually on us.
Paula Deen is not a role model for a healthy life, nor has she ever claimed to be. So why would we expect her to be one now? She is not a doctor with a financial interest in a drug company, nor is she a celebrity trainer endorsing diet pills. People have tuned in to her television shows for years not to learn how to eat more healthfully, but rather to escape into a world of sweets, salt, and fat. But now this role model for excess has become a victim of her own success.
And so have we.
The more we watch her shows, buy her books, and follow her recipes, the more we expose ourselves to the same risks. But a big difference is that pharmaceutical companies and the media are not coming to our rescue with sponsorships, renewed publicity, and fresh opportunities for future income. We are left on the sidelines, holding our half-eaten bacon, egg and glazed donut burgers, somehow surprised by our collective stomach aches.
Paula Deen has turned our missteps into her success. She has promoted a lifestyle that has not only impacted her health, but has also impacted ours. And rather than feed us real solutions, she appears to be playing a new game.
And unfortunately, we’re probably going to play too.
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. "III. REPORT OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES DATA PANEL." Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1995.
The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
Study on the Long-term Retention of Selected Scientific and Technical Records of the Federal Government: Working Papers
samples for very large data sets. However, the panel did not have the resources to fully examine these issues, and recommends that a focused study should be undertaken to evaluate the tradeoffs and problems of archiving for the long term only a sample of our largest data sets in the atmospheric sciences, with an eye toward finding acceptable sampling techniques.
Effects of Insufficient Budgets on Archiving
The databases at NCDC represent the largest collection of historical weather information in the United States. They have undergone many changes in formats, storage media, data management, and handling and processing procedures, often with inadequate funding as priority. NCDC has pursued various data rescue, archival, and systems modernization efforts with limited success. However, data-set preparation for archiving and care is expensive.
In recent years, there have been significant accomplishments in data management, archival procedures, data conversion, and data availability. Much, however, remains to be done. Specifically:
there are vast holdings at risk (with neither compression nor backup);
many holdings are not properly inventoried nor prioritized;
computer systems at NCDC lag behind the current state-of-the-art, and are overloaded, without an adequate replacement plan;
many of the data collection systems are inefficient, antiquated, and not compatible with others;
backup tapes, for a portion of the data, are in close proximity to the operations, placing those data at risk; and
systems planning for data protection has lagged.
At one time the USAF had nearly 15 years of thunderstorm summary data from the Soviet Union. These data were totally lost when NCDC was unable to accept them due to resource constraints. Most of these problems are a direct result of decades of inadequate funding and have been solved only partially by the dedication and heroic efforts of highly motivated NCDC staff.
Though NCDC is the active archive for NOAA weather data, it does not have all the NOAA atmospheric data. It has a substantial fraction of the operational NOAA data sets, and a much smaller fraction of the research data sets generated by NOAA funding. It is barely keeping up with the quantity of information pouring into the Center. The panel questions whether it is a good idea for NCDC to make efforts to physically obtain yet more databases without funding specifically allocated to the acquisition and maintenance of that specific data set. Otherwise, their very limited resources would be diluted even further. However, the panel can think of no better home for most U.S. atmospheric data.
A great difficulty in the funding of archives is deciding who pays for long-term retention and access. The users who will most benefit from the archive may not yet anticipate their own need or even yet be born. Along with the initial planning for the collection of data, there should be initial budgeting for data management and preservation. For example, DOE's ARM program budget estimates about 15 percent of the total program budget for data management and archiving. EOSDIS will claim a similar share of the EOS funds. This amount is significantly more than many projects might need, but the panel supports the concept.
Often there is the attitude that if an agency accepts or archives data at all, full support with extensive resources must be made available. NARA and NOAA should explore providing a range of levels of support with different levels of storage media quality and different levels of access convenience for data sets, decided deliberately rather than by default depending on short-term budget fluctuations. As has already been noted, the best technology is not always appropriate.
The panel reminds the agencies, as have many prior studies, that maintaining archives should be among agencies' highest priorities because the costs of maintaining and archiving data are sufficiently small compared to original data collection and preparation costs. On the whole, putting more money into data management usually realizes much more on our investment than collecting more data. On a broad level, the federal government should examine priorities for additional funding of data management and archiving.
5 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
NARA has the general responsibility for overseeing the disposition of all federal records and retaining all federal records worthy of indefinite archiving. This is a daunting responsibility, given the magnitude of the federal
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- listen to the story of a man who found a lot of money in a bag
- do a listening comprehension activity
- practise the 2nd conditional
- What would you do if you stumbled across a bag containing just over half a million dollars?
- Would you take it and say nothing or would you do the right thing and hand it in to the police?
Listen to the radio clip.
You are going to hear about a bus driver who found a lot of money in a bag.
- How much money was in the bag?
Now do the quiz
Go to the link below and read the text
- How old was the elderly lady?
- What was the bus driver's name?
- How did the police trace the owner of the money?
- What did he bus driver's employers think of him?
- Do you think the driver should have got a reward?
- Do you think he should have got more?
The bus driver wanted to meet the lady.
Imagine their conversation when they meet.
- Where do they meet?
- What do you think they say to each other?
- What questions do you think the driver asks the lady?
- Does she give him a reward?
Printable worksheet here
Look at the presentation below and discuss the questions
Excellent clip using "The Big Bang Theory" http://www.luizotaviobarros.com/2012/12/teach-second-conditional.html
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California is the innovator, right?
The state with the biggest population. The biggest economy. Some of the leading universities.
California is the state that invents things and changes things. California leads, for better or for worse, right?
Some might suggest not based on what happened Election Day.
On Nov. 6, voters in Washington and Colorado legalized the recreational use of marijuana. California voters two years ago rejected a ballot measure to liberalize marijuana laws.
On Nov. 6, voters in Washington, Maine and Maryland legalized same-sex marriage. In Minnesota, votes rejected a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. California voters four years ago passed Prop. 8 that prohibits same-sex marriage.
So much for the "Left Coast." It's more like a "Rocky Mountain high."
Except maybe California did start the waves that others rode to Election Day victories. It's just harder and much more expensive to get things done in California, a huge and diverse place. It takes about $2 million just to collect enough signatures to qualify a ballot measure.
Election Day may be moot, depending on what the U.S. Justice Department decides to do about the two states' new marijuana laws. Pot use still violates federal law. So far, Attorney General Eric Holder isn't saying much, but in the days before the vote two years ago on Proposition 19, he vowed to "vigorously enforce" federal drug laws even if Californians passed the measure.
And the Supreme Court is expected to decide next month whether to consider challenges to Proposition 8 and the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act that barred federal marital benefits such as joint tax returns and Social Security survivors' payments to same-sex spouses.
Federal appeals courts have ruled that both laws are unconstitutional acts of discrimination (same-sex marriage is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia).
Nobody should try to guess what this court will do on social issues. But we would note that in another, more conservative time, this state led the nation away from an obviously discriminatory marriage law.
In 1948, the California Supreme Court ruled that a ban on interracial marriage violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It would be 19 years before the U.S. Supreme Court did the same thing when it threw out Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute in Loving v. Virginia.
A line can be drawn between same-sex marriage today and Richard and Mildred Loving and their right to due process, privacy and free association.
California helped the Lovings' case. We have a tradition of innovation, leadership and social consciousness. It's a little premature to suggest we've lost our taste for it.
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When I think about the phrase “auto-scaling,” for some reason it conjures up the word “Transformers.” For those not familiar with the Transformers genre of cartoons, toys, games, and movies, it is essentially about cars that turn into robots or vise versa, depending on how you look at it. When they need to fight or confront a challenge, Transformers will scale up from a vehicle (a car, truck, airplane, etc.) into a much larger robot. Then, when the challenge subsides, they scale back down to a vehicle.
Scaling – in terms of infrastructure – is a similar concept, but applied to the horizontal or vertical scaling of servers. Horizontal scaling means adding (or removing) servers within an infrastructure environment. Vertical scaling involves adding resources to an existing server (like RAM).
Let’s look at an example. An author of a content creation website may write an article that attracts the attention of the social media community. What starts as a few views of the article per minute, once shared by many in social media, may result in hundreds or thousands of requests for this article per minute. When this spike in demand occurs, the load to the server or servers handling the website’s content may experience extreme load, affecting its ability to respond in a timely manner. The results can vary from long page loads to the server actually crashing under the additional peak load. In the past, this scenario used to be known as the “Digg effect” or “Slashdot effect.”
Although this type of success is great publicity for the author, it’s bad for the brand hosting the content. And, if users encounter slow or inaccessible websites, they’re less likely to return for other content at a later point, which can eventually result in a loss of revenue.
(more…) «What is Auto-Scaling, How Does it Work, & Why Should I Use it?»
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Each year, roughly 1 in 6 people in the US gets sick from eating contaminated food. The 1,000 or more reported outbreaks that happen each year reveal familiar culprits—Salmonella and other common germs. We know that reducing contamination works. During the past 15 years, a dangerous type of E. coli infection, responsible for the recall of millions of pounds of ground beef, has been cut almost in half. Yet during that same time, Salmonella infection, which causes more hospitalizations and deaths than any other type of germ found in food and $365 million in direct medical costs annually, has not declined. Each year, 1 million people get sick from eating food contaminated with Salmonella. Applying lessons learned from reducing E. coli O157 infections could help reduce illness caused by Salmonella.
Salmonella infection has not declined in 15 years
Reducing Salmonella infection is difficult because
- It is found in many different types of foods: meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and even processed foods such as peanut butter.
- Contamination can occur anywhere: from fields where food is grown to cutting boards in kitchens.
- What we eat and how we eat have changed: foods coming from one central location are widely distributed, meaning that sickness can spread quickly; we eat more meals outside the home; and more foods and ingredients come from all over the world.
- Some policies and procedures that can make a difference in reducing contamination take years to put into place.
*These contaminated ingredients or single foods (belonging to one food category) were associated with 1/3 of the Salmonella outbreaks.
†Other includes: Sprouts, leafy greens, roots, fish, grains-beans, shellfish, oil-sugar, and dairy.
Source: CDC National Outbreak Reporting System, 2004–2008.
Salmonella infection can be reduced by
- Taking strong and specific action to identify and prevent contamination from the farm to the table—a primary lesson learned in successfully reducing E. coli O157 infection.
- Developing new prevention strategies for the riskiest foods before and after harvesting.
- Enhancing laboratory testing and disease reporting to more quickly identify outbreaks and their causes.
- Investigating outbreaks quickly and alerting consumers and industry of concerns to prevent more illness.
- Using prevention-focused safety systems like the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point management system and applying technologies (for example, use of high temperatures in pasteurization and cooking) to reduce contamination.
- Putting into action new policies that focus on preventing food safety problems and address new challenges.
Source: Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 2010.
Lessons learned from Salmonella outbreaks
Work together to reduce Salmonella and other foodborne illnesses
Implement policies and regulations
- Ensure that food production and service facilities adopt proven preventive measures and enforce food safety laws and regulations, including requirements for eggs, meat, poultry, and processed and imported foods.
- Increase and improve inspections in the US and abroad.
- Develop and implement safety standards for fruits and vegetables.
- Use what is learned from outbreaks, inspections, and monitoring systems to develop new and improve existing prevention strategies.
Track and investigate illness
- Track trends, report progress, and make sure policies aimed at reducing infections work.
- Fund state and community efforts to identify and report sicknesses and catch outbreaks faster.
- Investigate outbreaks thoroughly to identify sources and improve control strategies.
- Develop new tools to find sources of contamination and characterize germs faster.
Farmers, grocery stores, and places that make, sell, or serve food can:
- Use good management practices to reduce contamination when raising livestock or food animals.
- Adopt proven preventive measures for food safety plans in all food production and service facilities.
- Follow the US Food and Drug Administration Model Food Code in restaurants and other places that serve food.
- Keep good records of where foods and food ingredients come from.
- Train and certify managers in food safety in all restaurants.
Health care providers can:
- Diagnose and treat infections by using best practices and report them rapidly.
- Talk to high-risk patients about food safety.
- Report suspected outbreaks to your local health department.
- Clean. Wash hands, cutting boards, utensils, and countertops.
- Separate. Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood separate from ready-to-eat foods.
- Cook. Use a food thermometer to ensure that foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature: 145°F for whole meats (allowing the meat to rest for 3 minutes before carving or consuming), 160°F for ground meats, and 165°F for all poultry.
- Chill. Keep your refrigerator below 40°F and refrigerate food that will spoil.
- Report suspected illness from food to your local health department.
- Don't prepare food for others if you have diarrhea or vomiting.
- Be especially careful preparing food for children, pregnant women, those in poor health, and older adults.
- Visit FoodSafety.gov for the latest information on preventing food poisoning.
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An article was recently brought to my attention. The first one I looked at was Wolves May Not Need to be Smart to Hunt in Packs from Discover Magazine. However, it was originally from New Scientist it seems. Both of them cite a couple of other papers via links in their respective articles. You can get the gist of what they are talking about from the text of the article, however.
The point is, they have discovered that the complex(-looking) pack hunting behaviors of wolves are actually not as complex and joined as we thought. With just a few very simple autonomous rules, they have duplicated this style of attack behavior in simulations. Specifically,
Using a computer model, researchers had each virtual “wolf” follow two rules: (1) move towards the prey until a certain distance is reached, and (2) when other wolves are close to the prey, move away from them. These rules cause the pack members to behave in a way that resembles real wolves, circling up around the animal, and when the prey tries to make a break for it, one wolf sometimes circles around and sets up an ambush, no communication required.
The comment that brought it to my attention was that biologists “discover” something that AI programmers have known for decades — the idea of flocking. Going back to Craig Reynolds seminal Boids research (from the 1980′s), we as AI programmers have known that simple rules can not only generate the look of complex behavior but that much of the complex behavior that exists in the world is actually the result of the same “simple rule” model. Even down to the cellular level in the human body — namely the human immune system — autonomous cellular behavior is driven by this mentality.
The key takeaway from this “revelation” about the wolves is not so much that wolves are not as clever as we thought, but rather that there is now legitimacy to using simpler AI techniques to generate emergent behavior. We aren’t “cheating” or cutting corners by using a simple rule-based flocking-like system to do our animal AI… we are, indeed, actually replicating what those animals are doing in the first place.
We could likely get far more mileage out of these techniques in the game space were it not for one major block — the trepidation that many developers feel about emergent behavior. For designers in particular, emergent behavior stemming from autonomous agents means giving up a level of authorial control. While authorial control is necessary and desired in some aspects of game design, there are plenty of places where it is not. By swearing off emergent AI techniques, we may be unnecessarily limiting ourselves and preventing a level of organic depth to our characters and, indeed, our game world.
Incidentally, emergent AI is not simply limited to the simple flocking-style rule-based systems that we are familiar with and that are discussed with regards to the wolves. Full-blown utility-based systems such as those that I talk about in my book are just an extension of this. The point being, we aren’t specifically scripting the behavior but rather defining meanings and relationships. The behavior naturally falls out of those rules. The Sims franchise is known for this. As a result, many people are simply fascinated to sit back and watch things unfold without intervention. The characters not only look like they are “doing their own thing” but also look like they are operating together in a community… just like the wolves are acting on their own and working as part of a team.
So take heart, my AI programmer friends and colleagues. Academic biologists may only now be getting the idea — but we’ve been heading down the right track for quite some time now. We just need to feel better about doing it!
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DinkelsbühlArticle Free Pass
Dinkelsbühl, city, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. It lies along the Wörnitz River about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Ansbach. Mentioned in 928, it was fortified in the 10th century and became a free imperial city in 1273. It flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries and successfully withstood eight sieges in the Thirty Years’ War (events commemorated annually in a July festival) before it fell to Gustav II Adolf of Sweden in 1632. The 10th-century walls, along with a moat and 12th-century towers, still surround the city, thus preserving its medieval character and providing one basis for a thriving tourist trade. Notable landmarks include the late Gothic Church of St. George (1448–99; one of Germany’s finest single-naved churches, with a Romanesque tower), the old castle of the Teutonic Order (rebuilt 1761–64), the fortified town mill (c. 1390), and the Deutsche Haus (a 14th–15th-century mansion, with a Renaissance facade). Pop. (2007 est.) 11,515.
What made you want to look up "Dinkelsbuhl"? Please share what surprised you most...
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Sample text for Ashes to ashes / Tami Hoag.
Bibliographic record and links to related information available from the Library of Congress catalog
Copyrighted sample text provided by the publisher and used with permission. May be incomplete or contain other coding.
Some killers are born. Some killers are made. And sometimes the origin of desire for homicide is lost in the tangle of roots that make an ugly childhood and a dangerous youth, so that no one may ever know if the urge was inbred or induced.
He lifts the body from the back of the Blazer like a roll of old carpet to be discarded. The soles of his boots scuff against the blacktop of the parking area, then fall nearly silent on the dead grass and hard ground. The night is balmy for November in Minneapolis. A swirling wind tosses fallen leaves. The bare branches of the trees rattle together like bags of bones.
He knows he falls into the last category of killers. He has spent many hours, days, months, years studying his compulsion and its point of origin. He knows what he is, and he embraces that truth. He has never known guilt or remorse. He believes conscience, rules, laws, serve the individual no practical purpose, and only limit human possibilities.
"Man enters into the ethical world through fear and not through love."--Paul Ricoeur, Symbolism of Evil.
His True Self adheres only to his own code: domination, manipulation, control.
A broken shard of moon glares down on the scene, its light faint beneath the web of limbs. He arranges the body to his satisfaction and traces two intersecting X's over the left upper chest. With a sense of ceremony, he pours the accelerant. Anointing the dead. Symbolism of evil. His True Self embraces the concept of evil as power. Fuel for the internal fire.
"Ashes to ashes."
The sounds are ordered and specific, magnified by his excitement. The scrape of the match against the friction strip, the pop as it bursts with flame, the whoosh of the fire as it comes alive and consumes. As the fire burns, his memory replays the earlier sounds of pain and fear. He recalls the tremor in her voice as she pleaded for her life, the unique pitch and quality of each cry as he tortured her. The exquisite music of life and death.
For one fine moment he allows himself to admire the drama of the tableau. He allows himself to feel the heat of the flames caress his face like tongues of desire. He closes his eyes and listens to the sizzle and hiss, breathes deep the smell of roasting flesh.
Elated, excited, aroused, he takes his erection out of his pants and strokes himself hard. He brings himself nearly to climax, but is careful not to ejaculate. Save it for later, when he can celebrate fully.
His goal is in sight. He has a plan, meticulously thought out, to be executed with perfection. His name will live in infamy with all the great ones--Bundy, Kemper, the Boston Strangler, the Green River Killer. The press here has already given him a name: the Cremator.
It makes him smile. It makes him proud. He lights another match and holds it just in front of him, studying the flame, loving the sinuous, sensuous undulation of it. He brings it closer to his face, opens his mouth, and eats it.
Then he turns and walks away. Already thinking of next time.
The sight burned its impression into the depths of her memory, into the backs of her eyeballs so that she could see it when she blinked against the tears. The body twisting in slow agony against its horrible fate. Orange flame a backdrop for the nightmare image.
She ran, her lungs burning, her legs burning, her eyes burning, her throat burning. In one abstract corner of her mind, she was the corpse. Maybe this was what death was like. Maybe it was her body roasting, and this consciousness was her soul trying to escape the fires of hell. She had been told repeatedly that was where she would end up.
In the near distance she could hear a siren and see the weird flash of blue and red lights against the night. She ran for the street, sobbing, stumbling. Her right knee hit the frozen ground, but she forced her feet to keep moving.
Run run run run run run--
The cruiser still rocked at the curb. The door was open. The cop was on the boulevard, gun drawn and pointed straight at her.
"Help me!" The words rasped in her throat.
"Help me!" she gasped, tears blurring her vision.
Her legs buckled beneath the weight of her body and the weight of her fear and the weight of her heart that was pounding like some huge swollen thing in her chest.
The cop was beside her in an instant, holstering his weapon and dropping to his knees to help. Must be a rookie, she thought dimly. She knew fourteen-year-old kids with better street instincts. She could have gotten his weapon. If she'd had a knife, she could have raised herself up and stabbed him.
He pulled her up into a sitting position with a hand on either shoulder. Sirens wailed in the distance.
"What happened? Are you all right?" he demanded. He had a face like an angel.
"I saw him," she said, breathless, shaking, bile pushing up the back of her throat. "I was there. Oh--Jesus. Oh--shit. I saw him!"
Library of Congress subject headings for this publication: Serial murders Fiction, Serial murderers Fiction, Government investigators Fiction, Minneapolis (Minn, ) Fiction
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Skip to comments.New study links current events to climate change
Posted on 08/04/2012 5:58:55 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
WASHINGTONThe relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist. The research by a man often called the "godfather of global warming" says that the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than 1 in 300. Now, the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by NASA scientist James Hansen. He says that statistically what's happening is not random or normal, but pure and simple climate change.
"This is not some scientific theory. We are now experiencing scientific fact," Hansen told The Associated Press in an interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
A similar link can be found between jalepineo’s and toilet paper.
Hansen of NASA gives the proof that he was correct on green house gases cause globalony warming:
“In a landmark 1988 study, Hansen predicted that if greenhouse gas emissions continue, which they have, Washington, D.C., would have about nine days each year of 95 degrees or warmer in the decade of the 2010s. So far this year, with about four more weeks of summer, the city has had 23 days with 95 degrees or hotter temperatures.”
It seems like a cooler summer than normal in the NYC area.
(Can I be arrested for saying that?)
Of course the climate is changing. It always has. There even was a time where there was NO oxygen (there was no CO2 then either). The climate also causes weather. Therefore, all weather can be explained by climate change......So?
When I see it's Hansen, I stop. The boy has ZERO credibilty. He's just one of Algore's two bit climate change pimps.
Gotta hand it to these nut cases, they sure are open minded scientists.
Hansen and bogus are synonymous. W should have fired this bas-—d when he had the chance.
So...Hansen was wrong, and by a rather wide margin.
Those percentages must be true.
Because it's a 2 to 1 certainty that author Seth Borenstein is a flaming environazi who left his integrity at the back door of Obama's favorite bathhouse in Chicago.
Okay, I accept that. What does this study have to say about detected warming on other planets?
More bovine excrement.
NASA....please fire this man....Oh, that's not how it works.
One man's scientific fact is another man's scientific fiction.
NASA? We still have a NASA? What for?
Ah, there lies the rub.
I didn’t hear anything about the 1956 severe drought and heatwave. Where is it in this article.....I can’t seem to find it.
Maybe it was not studied in depth simply because it was BEFORE the widespread use of air conditioners with freon and hair spray huh????? Could that be it?
Climate change my ass.....it’s simply a cycle of the earth. Remember it happened last in 1956 and there was no mention of global warming back then. As a matter of fact people said “it’s hot as hell and just as dry” and simply took it for what it was....a hot dry summer.
Now the “chicken littles” otherwise known as liberals hide under their beds, shaking in their winnie the poo pJ’s and crying “WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE UNLESS WE CONTROL GLOBAL WARMING!”
Little do they know we can’t change ANYTHING about the earth’s climate cycles.
These people will never stop trying to take over this country by any means necessary to fundamentally transform us into a socialist hellhole. We have to defeat them. This is a cold civil war to be sure.
W should have fired a lot of folks....beginning with Karl Rove as it turns out.
I’m just surprised that it took Hansen so long to claim this summer as proof of his theory.
I knew it!! Chick-Fil_a Appreciation Day caused global warming. /s
When they talk about weather records falling, I generally smile.
The other day one reporter was trying to make hay out of the highest temperature in the last fifty years.
Another-words, fifty years ago the temperature was actually higher. And you know what, we somehow survived.
I know there’s a drought going on right now. It has been terrible for some folks. That’s rotten, but the worst they can say about it is that it’s the worst since the drought of the 1930s. Weather is cyclical. In twelve years they will be complaining about the temperature falling like they did in the 1970s.
In the early 70s they were hawking the idea that we were all going to die due to overpopulation too. Somehow we survived that too.
Buck up Lefties... we’re gonna make it, unless your presidents kill us all.
I don’t even like to hear Rove’s pompous a$$ voice.
Hansen is damaged goods. A Watermelon.
It’s been hotter and dryer than this in the past, and it will be hotter and dryer than this in the future. That’s my scientific theory on the subject.
NASA recently called CO2 one of the greatest coolants for its deflection of energy from solar flares. So, I have to wonder, could the lower levels of CO2 caused by closing coal plants and using less fossil fuels be the cause of this heat and dryness resulting from increased solar activity.
We’ve had cooler than average temperatures resulting from low solar activity, and we all knew the warming kooks would pounce on this high solar activity as an opportunity for demagoguery. In fact, it was predicted by many, making it a fact, not theory.
movie titles of Hansen’s life and contributions
When Nutcases Collude
How Green my GRant
Extreme weather is an integral part of the Earths climate.
Global temperatures have been declining for 2000 years when you don’t use the fraudulent data used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The Tree Ring Data Scandal.
New tree ring study shows 2000 years of cooling.
Lehman Brothers Close Ties to Gore, Hansen and Carbon Trading
they couldnt predict their own bankruptcy but were predicting the climate 100 years ahead.
Me either anymore. As it turns out, Rove was behind a lot of the bad advice that W got over the years. Like never fighting back against the lies and smears. That drove me crazy for 8 years! Never understood it. That was Rove’s job to fight back! I can see the President not getting in the muck..but Rove and W ‘s surrogates sure as hell should have. They did little to nothing.
The more science you know, the less worried you are about climate
Thus, in a just-published US National Science Foundation-funded study, participants’ science knowledge and numeracy was tested and compared with levels of concern regarding climate change. The soft-studies profs were amazed, however, to find that as one moves up the scale of science knowledge and numeracy, people become more sceptical, not less.
Our goobermints answer to this will to be:
Deny grants, loans or scholarships for hard sciences students and increase those for journalism majors. (gotta have them to spread the BS from the “studies” put out by the race baiters ,”queer studies” majors, womens studies students, and “environmental justice” majors.)
Searching...searching...searching.........Got it print it hope they believe it hope it sticks then we can set up camp and siphon money from them. They don’t give up
One clue is that the bubbles would have ALL melted, ALL over, not just two facing one direction.
I believe that Rove was behind the fact that W never used his veto pen during his first term—he should have used it, the stupid Republicans were spending money like drunken Democrats. This was the primary reason the Democrats took control of the House and Senate in the 2006 elections.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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Turns out one of the best views of Lake Tahoe isn't actually at Lake Tahoe.
Case in point: Astronaut Thomas Marshburn's recent shot of the Jewel of the Sierra from the International Space Station.
The shot captures the full length of the lake, as well as the snow-capped peaks of Desolation Wilderness. The Tahoe Keys, Fallen Leaf Lake and a frozen Cascade Lake are each clearly visible from more than 200 miles up.
Marshburn tweeted the photograph Jan. 20 with a sentiment that typically echoes much closer to home: "Hey Tahoe - how's the skiing?"
The 52-year-old North Carolina native arrived at the space station in late December and is expected to be on board until May, NASA spokeswoman Rachel Kraft said.
"He is living, working and researching aboard the International Space Station," Kraft said.
The current expedition is studying wide-ranging topics including biology, physiology, earth sciences and how humans adapt to space, according to Kraft.
The views from the space station may be getting more attention than the science.
One of Marshburn's companions aboard the space station, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has captured beautiful, widely discussed photos from around the world during his stint onboard. Hadfield has amassed more than 290,000 Twitter followers as word of his amazing photographs has spread.
Among Hadfield's shots are photos of Reno and Sacramento at night, as well photos of Las Vegas during the day and after dusk.
Marshburn is a backpacker, mountain climber and snowboarder who has at least some knowledge of the Lake Tahoe Basin. He hiked many of the same peaks he photographed from space while on the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 1980, according to a profile by the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.
In an interview on NASA's website, Marshburn said finding your hometown from space is a pastime of space station astronauts.
"You have to plan it out ahead of time, you hope there are no clouds and then if there's a break in the work you go over to the window and take a look," Marshburn said.
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Note: Since completion of the house I have also decided to allow guest bloggers to post articles related to remodeling. This continues the education process.
Architect Selection - December 2002 through January 2003
Getting a Permit - January 2003 through November 2004
Construction - November 2004 through September 2006
Post Construction - October 2006 through ???
Asbestos Removal and Greener Alternatives
Used in millions of homes throughout the last quarter of the 20th century, asbestos insulation can become a real dilemma for homeowners due to causing a variety of health problems, including Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Malignant Mesothelioma. These types of cancer take the lives of thousands each year.
Non-regulated asbestos material can be legally performed by homeowners, regular contractors, or licensed asbestos abatement contractors as long as the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) are not violated.
Asbestos removal in public facilities, homes and workplaces must be undertaken by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor. Once the removal is complete, green insulation options should be given serious consideration, such as: Cellulose, Cotton Fiber and Lcynene.
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), in a study conducted in 2003, estimated a savings of $50-$65 per square foot for well-constructed green buildings in the U.S. (see table below) during that year. The numbers continue to improve as more eco-friendly options become available, and those kinds of figures have finally begun to attract those who thought eco-friendly construction was just a bunch of hogwash.
Cabinets, Plumbing, Electrical, Insulation, Surround Sound, Roof Work, Shower Mopped,.....
• All plumbing and electrical in the master bathroom has to shift to the left by about a foot since we had a designer lay out the cabinets.
• All insulation has been put in.
• I installed in-ceiling speaker brackets for surround sound in the living room.
• Copper flashing is going on the roof.
• The shower has been hot-mopped. We were told to pick out all bathroom tile and balcony and laundry room flooring this week.
• Skylights have been framed.
• The Thermador range and Thermador dishwasher were delivered last week. I found a place in Alabama (Fredrickson's Tire and Appliance) with amazing prices through eBay. They were clearing out a supply of Thermador appliances from a warehouse that closed down. They bought everything up and were liquidating at wholesale prices.
• With the extended garage roof you now hit your head when walking around the corner. So, we dug down about 2 feet around the garage to lower the grade.
Be sure to browse the 2,000 picture Photo Gallery for more step-by-step construction details.
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By Samuel Rubenfeld
The U.S. State Department designated a leader of the Basque ETA movement as a terrorist.
Aitzol Iriondo Yarza, a military leader and explosives expert for ETA, is detained in France awaiting extradition to Spain to face terrorism and murder charges, the State Department said.
The designation freezes any U.S. property in which Iriondo has an interest, and his U.S. assets are frozen. “This action will help stem the flow of financial and other assistance to this ETA leader,” the State Department said in a statement.
ETA was designated by the State Department in 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization, and it’s responsible for killing more than 800 people and injuring thousands since 1968, when it formally began using violence.
Since 2008, Spanish and French authorities have apprehended a number of ETA’s members and top leaders, the State Department said, leaving only about 100 members remaining at large.
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Procurement training has evolved over the last decade both in publicly available courses and in-house corporate training. There are foundation courses available for entry level staff through to leadership skills training for Chief Procurement Officers. There are new competencies that are needed for future success and new task areas where additional skills will be needed. Training is available in these important areas:
Supplier Relationship Management. Interaction between suppliers, your company and your customers is vital to a streamlined supply chain and building sustainable relationships will ensure continuity of supply.
Cost reduction methodologies and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). It is increasingly obvious that the first cost of an item is not fully reflective of the full cost over the useful life of the item. The ability to break down the should-cost of an item or commodity can be taught.
Supplier Evaluation, Quality and Development. Supplier partnerships and relationship building will be key to keeping competitive. Evaluating suppliers on responsiveness to customer complaints, on-time delivery, rejected or substandard items, fulfilling warranties and other quality measures is a requirement which needs to be recorded and managed
Setting Key Performance Indicators for Suppliers. Only events and activities that can be measured can be managed. Training on how to manage supplier performance through the setting of targets for the supplier is available and can be customized to the commodity being sourced.
E-Procurement. Reverse auctions are being used extensively for repetitive items using an on-line bidding process on the internet. Courses are available to learn about the advantages of e-procurement and how to use the systems and methodologies that support it.
Contract management. Often, this is an area that is poorly understood by procurement professionals and legal support is brought in to assist. Learning and understanding more about different contracting methods saves time and money for organizations.
With the advert of low cost country sourcing and increasing trade across borders, training is needed on issues relating to language, currencies and cultural norms. In addition, financial literacy is increasingly needed as international trade financing and importing can be quite complex.
Programs can be designed for internal use within your company and customized to suit your company's needs with "tailor-made" training sessions. Advanced training can cover elements such as supplier selection, operational and sourcing key performance indicators, cost reduction methodologies, contract development and low cost country sourcing. Procurement training
can cover both traditional procure-to-pay operations as well as strategic sourcing.
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A lot of folks are celebrating the death of the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. My friend Jules Crittenden, an editor at the Boston Herald and a fellow embed with the 3rd Infantry Division three years ago, saw the significance of Zarqawi’s death this way.
“Sometimes you have to just stop and smell the roses.”
Take a deep breath, friends.
Whether you agree with President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq or not, there’s no question that everyone there except terrorists is better off with Zarqawi dead. Anyone who has lived in Iraq knows why that’s so true. Those there – Iraqi, soldier, contractor and journalist, man, woman and child – were forced to live in the shadow of this merciless man who relished the chance to spill blood. As Jules points out in his blog, Zarqawi liked to go after police recruits. These were jobless Iraqis standing in line, hoping to get work and, perhaps, help bring order to their land of chaos. If kids were around, tough luck, pal.
Jules recounts the Zarqawi saga far better than I could, but also makes a point that both of us are certain about: this is going to be a long, long war.
Just how long is anyone’s guess. That’s a good topic to hash over while toasting Zarqawi’s end with a few cold ones, but I’m not overly optimistic about Iraq quelling the violence. Too many people there have guns and ammunition, for one thing. Militias are everywhere. For another, the Iraqi police are a shambles. Imagine living in a country where you shudder at the sight of the police because they’ve been linked to countless kidnappings and murders. Now imagine living in Baghdad, where men in police uniforms the other day kidnapped dozens of people at a tourist office – in broad daylight.
So I’m guessing Iraq is a 10-year war. Jules thinks it might end in half that time.
We fear the larger battle against Islamic terrorists could run for decades more. But whatever the case, large numbers of American soldiers are likely to be in Iraq as long as the country is as unstable as it is today. Our GIs are the glue holding Iraq together, and it’s becoming an increasingly thankless job in a land so conflicted about our presence.
When President Bush says our troops will stand down as the Iraqi army stands up, what he really means is that we’re buying time for Baghdad’s new government and security apparatus to get its act together. We’re buying that time with American lives.
You’ll be reminded of that as the weekend begins.
Capt. James Alexander Funkhouser Jr., 35, of Katy will be buried Friday morning at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. A lot of people haven’t heard of him, but Funkhouser, a Texas State University graduate with New Braunfels ties, was the soldier killed on Memorial Day when a CBS News crew was hit by a Baghdad car bomb. He realized there was something wrong and tried to get his troops and the crew, one of them reporter Kimberly Dozier, out of harm’s way when an insurgent detonated the bomb. Cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, and James Brolan, a 42-year-old soundman, perished along with Funkhouser and an Iraqi interpreter. Dozier, 39, was badly injured. Four soldiers with them that day are now recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center.
A one-time enlistee who became an officer through an Army program called “Green-to-Gold,” Funkhouser leaves behind a widow and two young daughters.
“I’m sure maybe a part of him might have been a little nervous about what could happened but he never, ever let on to anybody about that,” Jennifer Funkhouser, 28, of Killeen and a 1996 New Braunfels High School graduate, said when asked if her husband had reservations deploying to Iraq in December 2005. “He felt that it was most important to go down there, not worry about what could happen and do his job.
“That wasn’t in him. He was a strong person.”
Think about the little victories in Iraq and a few snapshots come to mind – the fall of Saddam’s statue in Firdos Square, his capture in that moldy spider hole near Tikrit, triumphant Iraqis as they voted for the first time and now Zarqawi’s welcome demise.
So enjoy this moment, but not too long. There are plenty more terrorists where he came from, and it’ll take brave soldiers like James Alexander Funkhouser to stop them.
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169 Riverside Drive, Binghamton, NY 13905
Phone: 607-798-5230 • Fax: 607-798-6720
The MammoSite Radiation Therapy System (RTS) is a device that is
used to deliver radiation therapy after a woman undergoes a
lumpectomy, or surgical removal of the cancerous tumor. This
device delivers radiation from within the space left after the
cancerous tumor is removed, to the tissue directly surrounding that
cavity where tumors are most likely to recur. MammoSite
reduces the course of treatment from the traditional six weeks
to five days.
How does it
During a lumpectomy or shortly after, a single balloon catheter
is inserted through a small incision into the cavity created by the
surgical removal of the tumor (Figure 1). The balloon
tipped end is inflated with sterile saline and contrast (for
imaging) to fill the cavity. A portion of the catheter
remains outside of the breast and is dressed before the patient is
sent home (Figure 2).
The patient will then return to Lourdes for her daily radiation
therapy treatments. Typical treatment duration is twice a day
for five days (each visit to the doctor will take about an hour,
with 15 minutes or less for radiation delivery). During the
visit, the portion of the catheter remaining outside of the breast
is attached to a computer controlled machine, called an
afterloader. The afterloader is programmed to deliver a
radioactive seed, attached to a wire into the balloon portion of
the device where it emits radiation from within the breast (Figure
3). The patient may return home between treatments.
When radiation treatment has ended, the balloon is deflated and
easily removed (Figure 4).
Is the radiation exposure potentially harmful to the
Because the MammoSite RTS balloon catheter delivers radiation
from within, directly to the tissue surrounding the original tumor,
potential exposure to the rest of the breast, skin, ribs, lungs and
heart is minimized. No source of radiation remains in the
patient's body between treatments or after the final procedure.
Safety and performance of the device for delivery of internal
radiation were proven clinically in a multi-center study, which
involved women with early-stage breast cancer. The results of the
study were published in the International Journal of
Radiology*Biology*Physics (February 2003).
Is the MammoSite RTS similar to brachytherapy?
The MammoSite RTS is a device that delivers brachytherapy, a
term applied to the process of radiating from within. Conventional
breast brachytherapy has not been widely accepted by physicians and
patients because of its invasiveness and complexity. Conventional
brachytherapy requires the use of 15 to 30 catheters and is complex
for the physician to perform. In contrast, MammoSite RTS enables
treatment to be delivered with a single balloon catheter, and the
procedure is relatively quick and simple to perform, with minimal
discomfort to the patient.
Is treatment with the MammoSite RTS covered by health
Radiation therapy with internal radiation is an accepted
treatment for breast cancer and is covered by most insurers.
Specific coverage for the MammoSite RTS will depend on a patient's
individual health care plan.
Can any breast cancer patient be treated with the MammoSite
No. The use of MammoSite RTS is subject to physicians'
clinical judgement in consultation with their patients. To date,
physicians have generally recommended MammoSite for patients 45
years of age and older with early-stage breast cancer (e.g., a
tumor size of three centimeters or less and no nodal
Does treatment with MammoSite RTS cause side effects?
MammoSite RTS has been carefully tested in a clinical trial.
Following the treatment, study participants experienced
breast-related side effects, such as but not limited to redness,
bruising and breast pain. All of these are common side effects of
breast surgery and/or radiation therapy, and are usually only
temporary. The MammoSite RTS has been used to treat thousands of
patients, and a patient registry has been initiated to follow
patients treated with MammoSite.
Ask your physician about MammoSite RTS
for the treatment of Breast Cancer.
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Austin's Mexico: A Forgotten Downtown Neighborhood
October 30 through March 10, 2013
810 Guadalupe, Austin, TX 78768-2287
Photos from the Library’s Austin History Center depict Austin’s early Mexican and Mexican American business and cultural community downtown between Congress Avenue and the banks of Shoal Creek. This community moved to Austin’s eastside in the 1930s, largely a result of the 1928 City Plan for Austin, which suggested that the city segregate minority communities.
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Uruguay’s inflation kept climbing in May reaching an annualized 8.06%
Uruguay’s inflation climbed in May to an annualized 8.06% the highest so far this year, according to the Statistics Office release on Tuesday. In May consumer prices were up 0.39% over April accumulating 3.82% in the first five months of the year, which makes the annual target of 4% to 6% hard to achieve.
At the end of the month the Central bank monetary policy committee will have to decide if to lower the basic rate which currently stands at 8.75% to help boost the economy but would at the same time further trigger inflation or increase the rate which could slow economic activity.
Apparently according to public statements from Vice President Danilo Astori, an economist by profession and former Economy minister, the government in coming months will appeal to ‘fiscal and salary policies to contain inflation’. This means lesser government spending and implementing more modest salaries’ agreements, which will need a strong political consensus.
The items which had the largest influence in May’s inflation were Housing (10.17% in the last twelve months), mainly pushed by rents and council taxes; Transport, Clothing and Footwear also influenced.
Transport jumped 7.2% because of higher fuel prices which are administered by the Uruguayan government monopoly and are used to help tame inflation. They were lagging and the government monopoly Ancap was loosing money.
Clothing and Footwear also climbed, 4.27%, as the winter season moves into the southern hemisphere.
At the other end, prices for food and beverage dropped 0.33% in May totalling 7.94% in the last twelve months.
Javier de Haedo a leading economist estimates that prices in Uruguay will begin to yield in coming weeks as “seasonal meat and fuel prices tend to slide” but warned about the “regional and global context” which means Uruguay must “closely monitor competitivity”. The economist also recommended a more conservative policy regarding labour long term agreements.
Gabriela Mordecki from the Economics Institute from the School of Economics anticipated inflation will continue to climb until August and then decelerate.
“Inflation this year should be in the range of 7.5%, even when the dollar in the Uruguayan exchange market has been volatile because of events in Brazil and Argentina and the overall uncertainty about the Euro crisis”, said Mordecki. “We expect things to calm down towards the end of the year”.
Pablo Rosselli from Deloitte said that unless there is a hard landing in Uruguay’s economic activity “it’s hard to imagine inflation coming down given the current level of salaries and labour cost increases”
He added Euro turbulences could force the Uruguayan Central bank to lower its rate to help competitivity and safeguard growth, “which would be in line with what Brazil is currently implementing”
But this should come with a clear message that salary increases must keep to the inflation target or below, and each sector should manage its performance, “with any additional increases conditioned to the development of the economy next year” underlined Rosselli.
KPMG economist Marcelo Sibille said that the best thing would be for the Central bank to leave the reference rate unchanged and attack inflation by other means.
The salaries’ policy needs to be contained and adapted to criteria of productivity to avoid the increase in costs reaching consumer prices, pointed out Sibille.
Uruguay which has been enjoying an unprecedented economic boom since 2004, with strong activity growth rates, nevertheless has been working with tight primary surpluses but insufficient to contain its fiscal deficit.
The current Uruguayan fiscal deficit is running between 1.6% and 2% of GDP, which is enviable in current world circumstances, but not acceptable following almost nine years of interrupted expansion.
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A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
A Syrian army commander who was afflicted with leprosy. An Israelite servant in his household spoke warmly of the cures effected by a prophet in Samaria. Hopefully Naaman traveled to Israel and sought the help of Elisha, the prophet. But when Elisha instructed him to bathe seven times in the Jordan River, Naaman was angry. The Jordan was so muddy he considered it undignified and repulsive. Nevertheless, his companions prevailed on him to obey Elisha, and after his seventh visit to the Jordan, he emerged with skin as clean "as the flesh of a little child" (II Kings 5:1-14). He returned gratefully to Elisha and said, "There is no God on all earth except in Israel" (II Kings 5:14-15). He wanted to give the prophet a gift, but Elisha would not take it (II Kings 5:16).
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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